


Wildfire

by DecemberCamie



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Angst, Childhood Friends, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2020-09-24 10:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 43,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20356729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecemberCamie/pseuds/DecemberCamie
Summary: Adora and Catra go to college.Just not the same one.





	1. Summer, Pre-Freshman Year

Catra and Adora don’t talk. Why would they talk, it’s not like there’s a problem here, and even if there _ was _ a problem, it certainly wouldn’t be Catra’s fault. 

Catra did nothing wrong. She has nothing to apologize for, and she has _ nothing _ to say to Adora. 

So, they don’t talk. 

* * *

Adora doesn’t know what she would say to Catra even if she did have the guts to pick up her phone and send her best friend of ten plus years a text. She can’t imagine actually calling her. Would Catra even pick up?

The answer is no, she wouldn’t. Catra is many things, and stubborn as hell is one of them. She doesn’t want to talk to Adora, because if she did, she would have by now. 

Catra doesn’t want to talk. So, Adora gives her the space she obviously needs, packs her bags, and leaves for college without a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/22/2019
> 
> Title of this fic is inspired by the song ['Wildfire' by Mariannas Trench!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gJcVlV5dHk)
> 
> This is a very short start to a very, very long fic. I started writing this thing a month ago and in total it's about 42k words long. I plan to update it every other day or so until the chapters start getting longer ^-^
> 
> [[my tumblr] ](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	2. Fall, Freshman Year

Catra first meets Adora when she’s six years old and stuck in a boring sleep away summer camp, all because her foster mother couldn’t stand her presence long enough to spend two whole months alone with her. 

Adora is an orphan. Or, that’s what she thinks she is. 

“You _ think _ you’re an orphan?” Catra whispers to her, ignoring the instructions their teacher is blabbing out in the background. They’re supposed to be making bracelets, tying together dyed strings and cheap beads like they’ll stand the rest of time. 

Catra knows better. Nothing lasts forever, and anyone stupid enough to believe that is fooling themselves. 

Adora nods, her gaze focused on the teacher. “Yeah. No one knows who dropped me off, you see. Light Hope found me on the side of the road and brought me to the orphanage. I don’t know anything about where I came from.”

“Neither do I,” Catra says without thinking. Her cheeks grow warm when she realizes what she said, when Adora turns those blue eyes on _ her. _“I—I mean...I’m a foster kid. I don’t know who my family is, either.”

Adora studies her for a few seconds. Those seconds feel like a lifetime. Catra’s stomach is doing weird twists and the teacher’s words are ringing in her ears: _ “Make sure to knot the string at least twice, otherwise the bracelet might break. You don’t want that after all the hard work you’ve put in—” _

But then Adora smiles. She smiles, and the horrible twisting vanishes, and suddenly Catra can breathe again. 

Adora holds out her hand. “Friends?” she asks, the black gap in her teeth standing out against the brilliance of her grin. 

Catra hesitantly takes her hand, squeezing gently. “...friends.”

The bracelets they make that day are friendship bracelets. Catra makes Adora’s, and Adora makes Catra’s. 

And they never take them off. 

* * *

Adora’s college is great. Really, it is. 

She makes friends in her first class with a girl whose cropped hair is dyed the brightest shade of pink, whose eyes seem to glitter just like her name. Glimmer quickly introduces Adora to Bow, a boy she’d been friends with since they were kids, and they all get dinner together after class ends. 

Adora tries not to think of Catra, but it’s hard. She misses her friend and her absence hurts like it’s a physical wound, and the worst part is that it didn’t have to be like this. Catra is just as brilliant as everyone seems to think Adora is, she just lacked the motivation to get herself as far. 

Maybe if she had, they would be getting dinner together right now. Maybe they would be on speaking terms. 

But they aren’t. So Adora eats dinner in Bright Moon’s dining hall with her new friends, laughs at their quirks and harmless banter, and pushes Catra down to the deepest corner of her heart.

* * *

Catra always thought Adora was something of a miracle. She was good at everything, liked by everyone, could do practically anything without putting any real effort into it. Sometimes Catra liked to stand back and just watch her, because everything about Adora was effortless. She shone, all on her own. 

And despite all that, Adora always made sure to hang out with Catra. Always. They were inseparable all throughout middle and high school, begged teachers to match their schedules and snuck out of classes together for no reason other than to hang out together. Catra thought they would always be together, just like their bracelets would always be on the other’s wrists. 

But times change. And she’s not sure how she feels about it—about _ Adora—_anymore. 

* * *

The most painful reminder, really, is the bracelet. 

Adora stares at it in the dining hall during lunchtime, lost in thought. She’s worn this thing for over a decade, no matter what Ms. Hope had said. It didn’t matter that it was worn and old and faded—it was _ symbolic _. And even now she couldn’t bring herself to take it off, not after all this time. 

“You okay there, Adora?”

Adora jumps. Bow sits down across from her, a questioning smile on his lips. 

“Bow…” Adora sighs and relaxes back into her chair. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Lost in thought?”

“Something like that…” She looks to the side, mind growing fuzzy with memories that sting and smart in all the worst ways. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Bow asks. Adora faintly hears the chunk of metal on plastic as the other student digs into his meal. “You looked pretty down.”

Adora frowns. Does she really look like that whenever she thinks about Catra? “I was...thinking about my friend.”

“The one who made you the friendship bracelet?”

Adora’s mouth falls open in surprise. “I—you—how did you—?”

“Me and Glimmer used to have similar ones.” Bow waves his fork around, a limp excuse for a vegetable stuck to the pointy end. “You made it in some kind of summer camp, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m surprised you’re still wearing it. Me and Glimmer had to get rid of ours, they started falling apart they got so dirty.”

Adora shrugs. “We just remade ours when it got too worn down.”

“Woahhhh.” Bow nods appreciatively and in that moment Adora couldn’t be more grateful about how seriously Bow takes friendship. At least he _ understands_. “Talk about dedication.”

“Yeah, well…” Adora sighs again, but this time the sound comes out heavier. That familiar sadness rises in her chest and clogs her throat. “I’m not sure if _ she _ is still as dedicated.”

“Your friend who made the bracelet?” Bow asks and Adora nods. “Why not? Did you guys have a falling out?”

Adora grimaces. “You could say that. She cut off her bracelet and threw it on my doorstep after graduation, so…”

“Ah.” Bow winces. “That’s awful.”

Awful is an understatement, but Adora doesn’t contradict him. The image is painful enough without going into detail—Bow doesn’t need to know how Catra threw the torn bracelet in Adora’s face, how she screamed and raged and fought tooth and nail when she heard Adora’s decision. The image of her puffy and tear-streaked face is still an extremely vivid one in Adora’s memory. 

So she just simply says, “You could say that again”, and asks him if he’d like to go to the library after he’s done eating. 

* * *

All of Catra’s best memories involve Adora in some way. But so do all of her worst ones. 

She didn’t want to believe it when Adora first told her. Adora had mentioned she was applying to Bright Moon once or twice, but Catra didn’t take her _ seriously _—

Well, it doesn’t matter now. Adora went and got accepted and left Catra to attend Horde Community college all alone. Catra can’t tell if she’s more mad at Adora for abandoning her like some outgrown and broken toy, or at herself for letting Adora leave in the first place. 

Her wrist feels too light without the weight of Adora’s bracelet. But Catra doesn’t let herself think about it. She’s got an internship with the President himself, and an upperclassman with an undercut and bleached hair is offering to take her to an honors dinner despite the fact she’s just a freshman. 

Catra is doing just fine. And for once, it’s all without Adora’s help. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/24/2019
> 
> ..........I was going to update this yesterday, I swear. But then my tire blew out and I ended up stuck on the side of a highway for a few hours T^T Anyway, thank you to anyone who kudo'd and bookmarked this fic so far! Every chapter is a portion of the school year. So: Summer, Fall, Winter, early Spring, late Spring. Next chapter will be 'Winter, Freshman Year'.
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	3. Winter, Freshman Year

Adora comes home for winter break, mostly because she doesn’t have a choice. 

She can’t even say _ why _ she’s so reluctant to pack up her things and get on the bus. Ms. Hope has never been anything but welcoming to Adora, she even let Adora stat in the orphanage after she turned eighteen and didn’t qualify for child status. But there’s something else about her mentor figure that’s always set Adora’s teeth on edge—she’d been the one to push Adora in school, regardless if it was for grades or clubs or applying to Bright Moon. 

She’d also always hated Catra. But that doesn’t matter so much now they aren’t talking. 

Ms. Hope is the one who picks her up from the bus station. She’s wearing a pinpoint suit like always, her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun at the base of her skull. She asks Adora about her first college semester as she drives them to the orphanage, and Adora answers politely enough to get through the ride. Her mind is already drifting to her phone, to Bow and Glimmer, and wondering how soon she can get them to visit. 

Thankfully, Glitter and Bow are all too eager to see Adora. They come with holiday gifts and bright beams and drag Adora away from Ms. Hope’s piercing gaze. They make Adora laugh as they stand in line for hot chocolate at Fright Town’s Winter Wonderland Festival—

—but then Adora catches sight of mismatched eyes and wild hair. She hasn’t seen Catra in so long that her breath catches in her throat. Time slows to a crawl as she stares at Catra and Catra stares back. The ache in her chest seems to grow as she drinks in the sight of her friend—

“Adora, your hot chocolate’s ready!”

Glimmer’s cheerful voice shakes Adora out of her trance. She accepts the drink, but by the time she looks back, Catra is gone. 

Adora bites her bottom lip and looks down at her cup. The first thing she’s going to do when she gets back to school is to apply for a resident assistant job. That way she’ll never have to come home for winter break again. 

* * *

Catra doesn’t know if she did or didn’t want to see Adora when she decided to go to the Winter Festival. But by the time she actually _ does _ see her ex-friend, she desperately wishes she hadn’t gone at all. 

Adora looked _ happy. _Wonderfully, perfectly happy, with flushed cheeks and glittering blue eyes. Her blonde hair is longer than Catra remembers, her smile a bit more beautiful. She didn’t look like she missed Catra at all, and the thought stabs at Catra’s heart more than it should. 

It also doesn’t help that Adora was surrounded by her new best friends. She obviously hadn’t wasted any time finding Catra’s replacements at her fancy college, and the thought tears Catra’s heart into shreds. 

The only real way of knowing whether Adora still cares about her at all would have been if she was still wearing Catra’s friendship bracelet. But Adora had been feet away, shrouded in the silhouettes of the crowd—much too far off for Catra to see a small piece of string on her wrist. Longing and frustration swell inside Catra, both warring for an impossible victory: does Adora still wear it, does she still think of Catra as much as Catra tries not to think of her...does it even _ matter? _

The answer is no, it doesn’t. Because the bracelets were stupid and dumb, and that is exactly why Catra had cut it off in front of Adora’s horrified and heartbroken face, effectively ruining any chance of reconciliation between them. 

Catra unlocks her cell phone with chilled hands as she quickly walks away from the Festival. She scrolls through her contacts, purposefully skipping over Adora’s number and settling on another. She lifts the phone to her ear, listening to it ring once, twice—

“Hey, Scorpia,” she says casually into the speaker. Her heart is hammering, why won’t it _ stop—? _ “You doing anything tonight?”

Nothing like a distraction to save you from ex-best friends and shattered promises, right?

* * *

Adora doesn’t see Catra again for the rest of the break. She can’t tell if it’s because Catra is actively avoiding her, or if it’s because Ms. Hope is actively trying to keep Adora from leaving the orphanage unsupervised. 

It doesn’t matter much. Sooner than she expects, Adora is back on the bus and heading up to Bright Moon. Not only does she apply for resident assistant, she also signs up for a tour guide job over the summer. 

“But...don’t you want to go home?” Bow asks her, confused, and Adora shrugs. 

“There’s no one for me to come home to,” Adora says honestly. 

Bow and Glimmer share a look behind her back. Adora pretends not to notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/26/2019
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	4. Early Spring, Freshman Year

Catra quickly and efficiently becomes part of the President’s inner circle at Horde Community College. All it really takes is knowing the right person, and apparently _ Scorpia _ is that person. The older student happily drags Catra around campus to all the most important events, introducing her to everyone and anyone. 

(It’s not exactly hard to figure out why Scorpia is so eager to help. Sometimes she spaces out while staring at Catra’s face, and she blushes a very dark shade of red whenever Catra snaps at her for it. Scorpia even tries to awkwardly ask her out one time, but Catra pretends to misunderstand her intentions. 

Catra really doesn’t get why she does that, though. Scorpia would be a nice distraction from everything, already _ is _ a nice distraction, and Catra knows Scorpia already worships the ground she walks on. So...what’s holding her back?

Adora. Obviously, it’s Adora. Because Adora has always held her back in everything, but—but in what way is Adora holding her back from _ this?_ It’s not like she and Adora were ever a thing, even if they did technically go to prom together as a joke their senior year. They’d only ever held hands when they were little kids, and they most definitely didn’t kiss. 

Catra would remember kissing Adora. She’s sure of it.)

Scorpia is the one who introduces Catra to the total genius and total idiot that is Entrapta. The older student is getting her PhD in robotic engineering, and it’s beyond obvious that she belongs in some Ivy League and not stuck at a community school. 

“I’ve actually thought of applying to Bright Moon before,” Entrapta says brightly when Catra asks her about it. “I’ve read some _ fascinating _papers on the research done there. But I’ve never been quite comfortable applying to a school I’ve never visited before...”

The name causes Catra’s stomach to plummet to the ground. Why is it that Adora follows her everywhere she goes?

“We should visit there together!” Scorpia says eagerly and Catra’s insides shrivel. “It could be fun! Like a—a road trip!”

“Oooooo, I've never been on a road trip before. It would be a wonderful opportunity for the study of human behavior in tight spaces—”

Catra rolls her eyes so hard it nearly hurts. How did she end up with such weird friends—

“What do you say, Catra?”

She blinks at the call of her name. Scorpia is looking at her with that all-too-adoring expression on her face again, the one that makes something twist guiltily in Catra’s chest. 

But she pushes that guilt down. She doesn’t have time for stupid emotions like that. She has a latter to climb in this school, and she’s going to reach the top no matter how she gets there. And if she can sneak in a trip to laugh at Adora’s stupidly perfect college while she’s at it? All the merrier. 

“Let’s do it,” she says, folding her arms and grinning. Entrapta makes some more ‘ooooo’-ing noises, already planning their trip down to the second aloud in Scorpia’s room. Scorpia smiles, blushing again, and Catra pretends not to notice. 

She wonders how Adora will react to her showing up on campus. The thought makes her grin just a bit wider. 

* * *

Adora gets the tour guide job, but not the resident assistant position. 

Bow and Glimmer cheer and embrace her tightly when she tells them. They’re both genuinely ecstatic for her, in a way that Catra never was. It feels both strange and good to acknowledge that—Adora loves Catra, will always love her despite her sass and drama and hidden jealousy. But she loves her new friends too, for all the opposite reasons she’s loved her ex-friend. 

They decide to go out to celebrate that night. Midterm season is around the corner and this is the last real chance they have to party before sinking into panic mode. Adora wears a red dress and Glimmer adds sparkles to her pink curls, but Bow puts on a short shirt that proudly shows off his mid-drift. 

“What?” he says when Adora and Glimmer point out that it’s not quite warm enough to show off that much skin. “You guys are crazy, we are going to be sweating up a storm at the bar and you’re both going to _ wish _ you had my outfit!”

The bar is very hot, just as Bow promises. It’s also crowded and loud, a constant barrage of noise against their senses, while lights flicker and plunge them into darkness every other second. It’s an oddly numbing and electrifying experience at the same time. It’s _ perfect_. 

At least it is, until Adora spots Catra dancing in the crowd of people at the center of the room. 

“I don’t understand—she goes to Horde Community College!” Adora wails to Glimmer in the bar’s bathroom. Her heart is beating too fast and her face is burning. She can’t tell if she’s reacting to her drink or Catra or both. 

“She can still visit here, Adora,” Glimmer says and shakes her head with a frown. “Are you okay? Do you want to leave?”

“I…” Adora tries to make sense of her racing thoughts. She knows Catra would only ever come here to antagonize her. She made her dislike of Adora’s school perfectly clear last summer as she shouted insults into Adora’s face. What would she think if she saw Adora running away into the night?

“Adora?” Glimmer asks tentatively and Adora shakes her head. 

“No, I—I want to stay. She’s not going to scare me off like this.”

That makes Glimmer grin. “Good. Let’s show her how Bright Moons _ party.” _

* * *

Catra didn’t exactly expect to run into Adora at the first party she, Entrapta and Scorpia crash, but she couldn’t be more _ thrilled. _

“I’ll be right back,” she yells to Scorpia, ignoring the taller girl when Scorpia calls out her name. She has a mission to complete, and the two drinks she’s already downed gives her more than enough courage to approach her oldest friend. 

She slides up to Adora at the bar while the blonde is getting a drink. She leans in close, close enough to smell Adora’s perfume and count the faint dusting of freckles along her neck... 

She whispers tauntingly into Adora’s ear, “Heyyyyy, Adora.”

Adora jumps so badly that it makes Catra laugh. Blue eyes narrow at her, but Catra is too amused to feel threatened. Adora doesn’t _ do _ threatening, anyway. She’s just too damn cute. She even seems to glow in the dim bar lighting—but maybe that’s just Catra’s drinks singing in her bloodstream. 

“Catra,” Adora glowers and something in Catra comes _ alive _ at the sound of her name leaving those lips again. “What are you doing here?”

Catra grins. “I’m visiting...can’t I visit a college for a friend?”

“I thought we weren’t friends anymore.” She turns back to the bartender, lips thinning. “You made that perfectly clear the last time we spoke.”

“Who said _ you _ were the friend?” Catra shoots back and Adora frowns. “I’m with someone else. She’s thinking about applying here, but she currently goes to Horde Community College. You know, the college you were _ supposed _ to attend with me?”

Adora’s jaw flexes. Her hands are curled into fists and Catra loves seeing how her every word worms its way under Adora’s perfect skin. 

“We’ve been over this, Catra,” Adora says shortly. The bartender hands over Adora’s drink and Adora hands over her cash. “I told you I was applying to Bright Moon months before we graduated high school, you could’ve applied with me.”

“I didn’t think you were being serious. You _ never _ mentioned wanting to go to Bright Moon before.”

“Yeah, well. People change.” Adora turns to face her head on, and every part of Catra seems to become electrified as those blue eyes glance her over. “You clearly did.”

_ That _ strikes a nerve. Adora can pretend she’s little miss perfect all she wants, but she doesn’t get to force her ideals on Catra. 

“Oh, and you didn’t?” Catra hisses, taking a threatening step into Adora’s personal space. “I saw you at the Festival, with your new perfect college friends. You forgot about me pretty quickly, huh? So much for being best friends forever.”

Adora’s eyes flash. “You were the one who cut up our friendship bracelets, not me!”

“If you cared about our ‘friendship’ so much, I wouldn’t have needed to!”

They’re both shouting, now. Not that anyone around them cares—the music is blasting, thumping through the air and floor in waves. Shouting is generally needed to hear anyone say anything in this sort of setting. 

But despite the way Adora is glaring daggers at her, despite the way it looks like she might hurl her drink in Catra’s face at any moment...Catra can’t help but find her memorizing. Adora’s dress is a deep scarlet, and something gold and flower-y glitters in her hair. Her cheeks are flushed pink and it makes Catra’s heart flip in a way that Scorpia’s adoring looks never do. 

It’s exciting and breathless to see Adora like this. They’ve always been friends, but this is the first time they’ve really been at each other’s throats, and having Adora fight and rage at her is oddly satisfying. Catra wants more than this, she wants to feel the hum of energy beneath Adora’s skin and the warmth of her touch. She wants to be closer to Adora because the distance between them is far too much and has been ever since last summer—

But then Adora breaks eye contact and the spell is broken. Adora moves to walk away, and denial rushes through Catra, cold and unyielding—

Catra grabs Adora’s wrist. Adora stops short. She turns to look down at Catra’s nails digging into her skin, before lifting her gaze to meet Catra’s gaze directly. There’s a question in her blue eyes, but Catra doesn’t want to talk anymore. 

“Catra—?” Adora starts. 

“Dance with me.”

Adora blinks. Catra is just as shocked—she didn’t expect herself to blurt out something like that—but quickly masks her expression into something smug and self-assured. 

“C’mon, are you scared or something, _ Princess?” _ Catra goads when Adora stays frozen and confused. 

The taunting nickname ignites a fire in Adora’s gaze. “You’re on.”

Catra grins—Adora’s hand is smooth and too familiar in her own—and leads her to the dance floor. 

* * *

Adora doesn’t remember much of the party after Catra starts whispering in her ear. She remembers moving with the rhythm of the dance floor, flowing and twisting against the bodies around her. She remembers Catra, always there and always _staring_, those blue-gold eyes locked on Adora like she’s the only one in the room. It’s thrilling for a reason Adora can’t name, but she doesn’t let herself think about it. She wants to forget the tension and all the unsaid apologies between them. So she accepts another drink from Glimmer, then one from Bow, and she _ dances. _

She wakes up the next morning in Glimmer’s room with a throbbing headache. She blinks at the ceiling, confused and at loss of how she got there. She’s still fully dressed, her hair half out of her usual ponytail and entangled in knots, but she really doesn’t feel like moving to comb them out right now. 

Her entire body aches. It has to be from the dancing, but when Adora finally gathers up the will to stumble into the bathroom, she finds another reason entirely. 

Glimmer bursts into Adora’s bathroom not a minute later. “_Adora!_ Adora, what’s wrong, I heard you scream—”

“Glimmer, _ do you see this?” _

Violet colored eyes blink. Glimmer takes a step closer to Adora, runs her hands gently across the bite marks and dark bruises scattered along Adora’s neck and shoulders. The light pressure makes Adora wince and Glimmer quickly withdraws her hand. 

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

“Not...really? I just—” Adora’s head won’t stop _ pounding _ , “—what _ happened _ last night?”

Glimmer blinks again. “You don’t remember?”

Adora grimaces. “Sort of? I remember getting to the party, and...running into Catra…but nothing else. I don’t even know who did this to me!”

“Oh. Well…” Glimmer’s eyes crinkle as she smiles slyly. Adora stares, not at all liking the look on her friend’s face. “I think it’s safe to say that you already know the answer to your question.”

“What are you—?”

The answer hits her in the face like a bag of bricks. Her jaw drops, and all the breath leaves her lungs in one _ whoosh. _

“Are—Are you telling me—_Catra?” _

Glimmer simply lifts her eyebrows, full out grinning now. “And here I thought you said she hated you.”

Adora groans. “She does, she…”

Adora doesn’t know what Catra thinks about her. She was sure Catra wanted nothing to do with her anymore, but if what Glimmer says is true…

Glimmer lays a gentle hand on Adora’s shoulder. “You really don’t remember?” Her tone is quieter, kinder, and Adora shakes her head. 

“I don’t know. All I get are these blurry images.”

She closes her eyes and tries to think. She remembers Catra holding her hand, those sharp nails digging into her skin. She vaguely recalls Catra’s eyes—one blue, one gold—glowing in the dark, leading her down a hallway...but what happened _ after _ that?

She groans again and buries her face in her hands. “I shouldn’t have drank so much!”

Glimmer sighs. “Well, nothing you can do about it now. Come out once you finish getting changed, Bow is making breakfast in the community kitchen downstairs.”

She leaves Adora alone once more. Adora lifts her head and stares at herself in the mirror—blue eyes, sunken with lack of sleep, those thin red lines streaking down her arms, the faint scattering of bruises across her shoulders, her swollen lips. 

Adora hesitantly touches one of the darker marks and feels her face grow warm. These weren’t the evidence of a fight. Well, they were, but the fight had been something more intimate. More personal. Did Catra really think so much of Adora to do all this?

And if so..._why? _

* * *

Catra remembers more of the party than she would like. 

She spends the entirety of the ride back to Horde staring gloomily out the window, refusing to respond to Scorpia’s attempts at conversation. She has too much to think about to chat aimlessly right now. 

She has too much of _ Adora _ to think about. The smell of her clung to Catra’s clothes, her silly and tipsy laughter still rang in her ears. The feel of her body and dress were too easy to remember, the taste of her even more so. 

Because they had gotten together last night. They hadn’t gone so far as sex, or even anything closely resembling it. But Catra had shoved Adora against a brick wall and kissed her hard enough to bruise. 

And Adora—Adora had thrown her arms around Catra’s neck and _ kissed her back. _

Catra’s heart gives a little lurch at the memory. It had all happened so fast, and Catra wishes more than anything that she had been more sober to remember every single detail. All she has this morning are blurry memories, faint sensations. It’s not much, but it’s just enough to leave her blood pumping and her breathing grow short. 

She’d never pictured the idea of her and Adora being well...a couple. They were best friends, together in every sense of the word but one. It wasn’t until they parted ways did that yearning to be close turn into a strange sort of desire. 

And now that desire _ won’t leave her alone. _

“Catra?”

A warm hand touches her shoulder. Catra jumps so badly she hits her head on the car ceiling. 

“Sorry, my bad!” Scorpia says and leans back, wincing. Catra glowers at her as she rubs her head. “It’s just, well, we’re here. And you didn’t look like you were getting out any time soon, so…”

Catra blinks and looks around. Scorpia is right. They’re parked next to Horde’s study hall, a dark and despised place among the students. Everything here is so dark and dull compared to the new and beautifully designed buildings of Bright Moon. 

“Right,” she says after a pause. “Thanks.”

Scorpia stumbles back as Catra gets out of the car. “No problem! D-Do you need help with anything, or…?”

“No, I got it.”

Catra waits for Scorpia to move, but the Junior just stands there. She’s looking more flustered than usual and normally Catra would be able to humor her. But she has a massive headache and a mind filled with Adora, and she’s not really in the mood to deal with anything except her bed. 

_ “What _, Scorpia?” she snaps. “If you have something to say, say it!”

Scorpia turns even more red, if possible. “I—I wanted to ask you...again...if y-you’d like to...with me…?”

Catra’s stomach turns over. “Do what with you?”

“...go out? With me?” Scorpia asks, voice a notch higher than usual. She looks like she’s ready to pass out or make a run for it, and Catra isn’t sure which one would be better. Either, really, since she does _ not _want to be having this conversation. “I—I really like you, Catra...I think you’re amazing, um.”

She looks down at her feet, wringing her hands together. Catra feels cold. There’s no way to misinterpret Scorpia this time. It’s either accept or deny, and Adora…

Well, Adora has her own replacements for Catra. Why can’t Catra have a replacement for her? Scorpia’s not so bad...they could have fun together. Maybe. 

“...sure,” Catra says after a lengthy pause. 

Scorpia looks up, her face lighting up as if she’s won the lottery. Catra lets out a squeak as Scorpia suddenly lunges forward and grabs her in a tight embrace. She’s squeezing Catra so hard she can barely breathe. 

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, Catra!” She pulls back, leaving her hands on Catra’s shoulders. “I promise you won’t regret this. I’ll make it the best date you’ve ever had!”

“...I’ve never been on a date before?” Catra says and Scorpia gapes. 

_ “What? _ No one’s—but—you’re beautiful!”

Catra’s cheeks grow hot. She’s not _ beautiful. _But she sees that stubborn look in Scorpia’s eyes and knows this isn’t an argument she can easily win. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll make this the best _ first _ date you’ve ever had. We can go out to eat, or the beach, or a movie—but you can pick the movie, of course, I wouldn’t want to assume what you like. But we could get popcorn, or those sweetish fish candies you like, or—”

Catra lets Scorpia ramble on as the older student walks Catra back to her room. It’s sort of nice, to feel cared about. To be liked. But the thought of Adora and the feel of her body still lingers on her skin and in her mind like a ghost. 

It’s only hours later, when she’s staring up at her ceiling and reliving the past two days in her head, that Catra remembers something that makes her sit straight up in bed:

Adora had still been wearing her friendship bracelet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/28/2019
> 
> Thank you for reading! ^-^
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	5. Late Spring, Freshman Year

Bow and Glimmer have their heads pushed together and are whispering secretively when Adora enters their usual study room in the library. 

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” she asks teasingly as she shuts the door behind her, and Bow and Glimmer jolt. 

“A-Adora!” Bow squeaks. Glimmer not-so-subtly pushes the laptop behind her back with a painful looking smile. “We—We didn’t hear you come in.”

“I figured that.” Adora leans to the side and her friends both shift to hide the computer from view. She frowns. “...what is it? Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened! Why would, uh.” Bow swallows thickly. “Why would anything have happened?”

“Uh, because you’re acting really suspicious right now? What is it? Don’t tell me your finals have been cancelled or something.” She laughs awkwardly at her own joke and Glimmer grimaces.

“No, it’s not that. It’s...well...here, you should see it yourself.”

She steps to the side so Adora can see the laptop. Adora drops her bag on the floor, heart starting to twist with anxiety—why are her friends acting so _ weird? _—and walks closer. 

On the screen is a Facebook account. Adora stares at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what’s so special about this ‘Scorpia’ person. She doesn’t recognize her at all. And it says here Scorpia doesn’t even go to their school, she’s a Junior at Horde Community College—

...oh. 

Something cold seizes Adora’s heart. The air is suddenly missing from her lungs and she gazes at the screen, unblinking and eyes stinging. 

“They’re dating?” she asks quietly and hears Glimmer shift behind her. 

“We’re not sure, actually? I mean, that’s what Scorpia’s profile says. But Catra’s doesn’t mention that she’s in a relationship at all—she doesn’t even have a picture of Scorpia in her gallery, from what we can tell.”

Adora’s shoulders and neck prickle. She could still see the last of Catra’s marks on her skin when she looked in the mirror this morning. It had been a nice reminder, in a way, that Catra missed her badly enough to do something like that. But now just thinking about the the marks make Adora feel sick. What was Catra playing at? Was her goal just to hurt Adora this whole time?

Adora pushes the laptop away before her thoughts drag her down a path she can’t crawl herself out of. She can’t think of this—_Catra _—right now. She has tests coming up, a group project to present, homework to finish—

“Adora?”

Bow lays a gentle hand on her shoulder and Adora blinks rapidly. “Are you alright?”

Adora stares at him. It amazes her how much Bow and Glimmer are alike, sometimes. They share so many tendencies, it’s not hard to see how much they mean to each other. Adora doesn’t know what Catra absorbed from her, if anything. 

Adora let out a long, shaking breath. “I...I think so. I’m just not gonna think about it. It’s not like we were...you know…”

Glimmer hugs her tightly. She smells like cotton candy perfume and flowery shampoo. She doesn’t say anything and Adora feels a lump in her throat take shape when Bow embraces her on the other side. 

Adora sniffs. “I love you guys so much.”

Bow squeezes her gently. “We love you too, Adora.” Glimmer nods against her and Adora squeezes her eyes shut. 

She may have lost Catra. But she’s found Glimmer and Bow, and that makes all the loss an easier lump to swallow. 

* * *

Dating Scorpia isn’t necessarily _ bad _. For the most part they act like they’ve always done, with Catra being moody and scowling while Scorpia chats amiably and constantly tries to cheer her up. The only difference is now they go to more places together, and sometimes Scorpia tries to hold Catra’s hand. 

They haven’t kissed yet. Scorpia hasn’t pressured her into it, and Catra doesn't know what she would do if she tried. 

She can’t imagine that kissing Scorpia would be bad. Scorpia wouldn’t ever make Catra uncomfortable, or hurt her in any way. Scorpia is a much better and kinder person than Catra. She’s probably the brightest spot in Catra’s life right now, actually. She deserves to be made happy and Catra knows continuing to date each other would make her happy. 

...but Catra still can’t bring herself to kiss her. When she pictures herself leaning closer to Scorpia, Adora’s glowing face appears in her mind. Golden eyelashes brushing pink cheeks, the tart but sweet taste of strawberries, nails that dig into Catra’s skin and fingers that hold on tight like...like Catra _ means something. _

She can’t make heads or tails of it. She’s thinking more about Adora now than she did before Scorpia asked her out, and it’s beyond frustrating. It’s almost frustrating enough to make her pick up her cell and text Adora. But she’s not quite _ stupid _ enough to try that yet, so, she doesn’t. 

Adora hasn’t texted her, either. Catra doesn’t know if she expected that to change after the party. Does Adora even remember them kissing? The thought makes something twist horribly in her chest, but she pushes the feeling deep, deep down. 

Who cares if Adora remembers anything, really? It doesn’t change the fact that they’re still not talking.

* * *

Catra isn’t obligated to tell Adora when she starts dating people. Adora _ knows _this, but it doesn’t stop her from obsessing over it between studying and teacher extra help hours and tutor sessions. 

The only real distraction from her inner turmoil are finals. Adora can’t afford to lose her She-Ra scholarship to Bright Moon with poor grades because of _ Catra_. Especially not after their friendship was sacrificed for Adora to attend Bright Moon in the first place. 

She finishes her last final on a beautiful and sunny Friday morning. She and Glimmer drag themselves back to bed immediately after finishing, sleep the rest of the day away, then wake up with just enough time to dress in fancy outfits and meet Bow downtown in one of the bars. 

This time, there’s no Catra to tease and goad Adora on. Adora’s not so sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but she still hasn’t brought herself to cut off her friendship bracelet despite everything, and that must mean _ something. _

The next day she packs up her things and moves into her, Glimmer and Bow’s new apartment. Glimmer got accepted into the same summer tour guide job as Adora, and will be staying at Bright Moon all summer towpath Adora her mother’s absolute horror. Bow is leaving for a month long trip with his dads, but he promises to come back to Bright Moon as soon as possible. 

The apartment is small and a little outdated. But there are three bedrooms for three best friends, and Adora wouldn’t have it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/30/2019
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	6. Summer, Pre-Sophomore Year

Catra doesn’t see Adora at all the entire summer. She’s not exactly sure if that’s on purpose or not since she’s blocked Adora on all social media platforms and is too stubborn to unlock her. 

It’s been a whole year since they stopped talking. The fact hits her across the face one day, stopping her dead in her tracks. 

“Hey, You okay?” Scorpia asks, looking concerned. She’s taking Catra to the beach—Catra is less than thrilled—and they are beyond late but she stops to check on Catra all the same. 

“Yeah, I’m…” Catra lets out a long breath and squares her shoulders. Her shoulders are already prickling with a sunburn. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? We could always head back—”

“No, I’m okay. Let’s just keep going.”

The ache in her chest doesn’t leave for the rest of the day. It doesn’t matter how many sandcastles Scorpia makes her, or how loud Catra blasts her music on the way back to Fight Town. She just keeps wondering what Adora thinks about the two of them, if she even thinks about Catra at all. 

* * *

The summer that Adora spends Bright Moon leading up to her Sophomore year is the best time of Adora’s life so far. 

She spends the days with Glimmer and the other tour guides, meeting families and chatting with potential students. Adora learns more about her school in those few weeks than she had in the entirety of her freshman year. And having Glimmer there to share it all with makes everything so much better. 

The other tour guides are...interesting. Spinnerella and Netassa are the kind but older managers of the group, each working as a professor's assistant in addition to their demanding tour guide job. Perfuma and Mermista are a year older than Adora and Glimmer, each majoring in biology though very different kinds. Adora spends most of her first day shadowing Perfuma and hearing about the hundreds of plant types in Bright Moon’s greenhouse and outside gardens. It’s sort of interesting—

“Well, it’s better than learning about all the different types of fish,” Glimmer grumbles that night. “I had to hear Mermista complain about ocean pollution  _ all day.” _

Eventually, Adora hears about the ocean pollution, too. It’s not that bad though, in her opinion. Perfuma and Mermista are both good hearted people, even if they are very enthusiastic about their majors. It forces her to think about her own major, what she wants to graduate with when she eventually leaves Bright Moon. Glimmer is Political Science, and Bow is doing Art History for his dads. But what does  _ Adora _ want? 

She decides that choosing a major is a Fall Semester problem. She’ll make a meeting with her schgool’s counselor, Ms. Razz, once classes start up again. Until then, she goes out to dinner with Glimmer, Perfuma and Mermista, talks to new students, and gets sunburned several times because she was too lazy to put on protection. 

It’s nice. It’s distracting, which is perfectly fine with Adora. And Summer even  _ better _ when Bow comes back to Bright Moon after his one month vacation with his parents. 

“When did we get a  _ cat?” _ he asks, gaping at the white kitten curled up on their couch. 

“Hmm?” Adora looks over her shoulder, arms full with Bow’s luggage. “Oh! We got him a few weeks ago.”

_ “Adora _ got him a few weeks ago,” Glimmer corrects as she shakes her head. “He followed her home after one of her tour guides, Bow. Can you believe it? He wouldn’t stop crying until we let him inside. He doesn’t leave Adora  _ ever.” _

Bow is still gaping at the cat as if he’s never seen one before. Adora carefully lays down the bags and turns to face him, stomach twisting into knots. “Bow, are you, uh, you okay with him? I know I didn’t ask permission or anything—”

But Bow quickly waves his hand. “Adora, don’t worry! I  _ love _ animals. Especially cute little guys like this one~” He sneaks up to the cat and gently rubs a hand over his head. The kitten lets out a quiet  _ mew _ and Bow looks happy enough to melt. 

“You say that now,” Glimmer says with a laugh. “Just you wait, Swift Wind never shuts up unless Adora is petting him. You’ll be wishing for peace in a day’s time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/3/2019
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr] ](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	7. Fall, Sophomore Year

“—and that’s why I ended up staying here!” Entrants finishes with a beam. It’s the start of a new school year, Catra’s second at Horde Community, and it’s still too damn hot to do much other than lay around in Entrapta’s air-conditioned lab. 

Catra snorts. “We went through all that effort to visit and apply and get references for you, and you end up turning down Bright Moon’s acceptance letter just because you enjoy Hordak’s _ research? _ You’re the weirdest person I know.”

“Thank you!” Entrapta doesn’t look at all bothered by Catra’s comment. “Besides, I would have missed you both too much!”

“Awwww, Entrapta!” 

Scorpia rushes over to pull Entrapta into a hug. Catra watches from her spot on the lumpy couch, too overheated to move. 

“We would have missed you too,” Scorpia says with a sniff. “It’s not the same without the three of us together. Right, Catra?”

“Huh?” Catra frowns and Scorpia looks at her pointedly. “Oh, uh. Yeah, absolutely.”

How Scorpia still wants to date her is a mystery to Catra. She’s not a cuddler, or in any way affectionate. They’ve kissed by now, but it was so chaste that Catra doesn’t even think it counts. But Scorpia is patient in ways Catra never will be, and that’s...nice. Scorpia is nice. 

She’s just not Adora. 

“Bright Moon was nice though,” Entrapta says wistfully as Scorpia pulls back. “They had the newest tech...I’m surprised you didn’t apply, Catra!”

Catra stiffens. Scorpia looks at Entrapta, puzzled. “What are you talking about? Catra hates Bright Moon, she says that all the time!”

Entrapta shrugs and lowers her red goggles over her eyes. “Didn’t look that way to me! You were having a great time with that blonde girl at the party we went to. I thought maybe you knew her.”

The room is filled with the tinkering sounds of metal hitting metal as Entrapta starts fiddling with something at her work station. Catra is frozen as a statue while Scorpia looks back and forth between them. 

“What blonde girl?” she asks, confused, and Catra wishes she were _ anywhere _ but here. 

“It’s nothing,” Catra says. Her casual tone sounds forced even to her own ears. “Really. It was just some girl I knew in high school.”

“It didn’t look like nothing when you pushed her up against the wall!” Entrapta piped up and Catra clenched her jaw. 

“Entrapta, it was _ nothing. _I don’t even talk to her anymore!”

Scorpia frowns at her. Catra can’t tell what she’s thinking, but she hopes it’s nothing bad. She’s telling the truth—it was nothing, they haven’t talked since then. Adora had never reached out to Catra, and Catra has _ nothing _ to apologize for. 

Scorpia starts to ask hesitantly, “Are...Are you sure it’s not—?”

_ “No. _It’s not anything, at all. Don’t even worry about it.”

“But it looked like—”

_ “Entrapta, _ please shut up!”

“Shutting up now!”

* * *

Sometimes, Adora looks down at her bracelet and wonders if she should take it off. 

There’s no real need for it anymore. It doesn’t prove anything, doesn’t stand for anything. How can it, when its matching piece was cut up in front of her very own eyes? 

But it also feels so _ wrong _ to remove it. She tries once, grabbing scissors from the kitchen and struggling to slide it between her wrist and the string of the bracelet—

And then she freezes. She stares at the cheap glittering red and blue beads, so carefully chosen. She gazes at the mismatched letters spelling out her ex-friend’s name. She remembers the time Catra so carefully retied the yellow string when it caught on a branch…

Something warm brushes her leg. Adora looks down, startled, only to see Swift Wind rubbing against her ankles. The cat meows loudly at her. 

Adora can’t help it—she laughs. It’s not a happy sound, by any means. She puts down the scissors and picks up Swift Wind. She pets behind his ears, just the way he likes, and in no time he’s purring in her arms. 

“Another time, then,” she whispers to herself as she carries her cat outside of the bathroom. She can try again tomorrow, and maybe by then she’ll be more ready to let go of Catra for good. 

* * *

It’s Homecoming. 

Catra sits on top of a grassy hill, glowering at the lights and crowds of people spread out below her. The fireworks are starting soon—Entrapta had disappeared off with Hordak to see the final preparations ages ago—and all these latecomers are going to miss the show if they stay down there. Even Scorpia hasn’t come back after dumping her on this spot and telling her not to move. Where she had gone is a mystery to Catra, and she’s not in the mood to go chasing after her and lose their spot. 

Catra looks down at the grass. She twirls a green strand between her fingers, letting her mind wander. Scorpia would be graduating this year, being two years older than Catra. It’s weird to think about being at Horde without her, but Catra knows she’ll survive just fine. 

She’s gotten a part-time job in Hordak’s office, and she’s made semi-friends with the other students there. She’ll keep that job for next year, maybe even moving up the ranks. But she’ll have to take some kind of leadership role...and it’ll be more than difficult to keep Kyle in shape...he’s already late with his paperwork again, and it's only a month into the semester. How is Catra going to show she can handle more responsibility if she can’t keep control of one freshman—?

“Hey, wildcat!”

Catra jolts, her shoulders jumping up defensively. But it’s just Scorpia with two large cotton candy jars, a bright beam on her face and stars reflecting in her eyes. 

“Scorpia,” Catra sighs and relaxes. “You scared me.”

“Didn’t mean to. Here we _ go—” _ the Senior grunts as she lowers herself onto the ground next to Catra. She holds out the cotton candy, still smiling. 

Catra takes it. “Thanks.” She doesn’t love cotton candy—too sweet, not enough bite—but Scorpia went through the effort of getting it, so she’ll manage to eat it all. 

“What were you thinking about?” Scorpia asks. “You looked kinda lost in thought there.”

Catra shrugs. “Kyle.”

_ “Kyle?” _

“Yeah. He’s late with his paperwork again.”

“Oh. Well, if you want, I can—”

“No. No, I’ll—” Catra lets out a long sigh, “—I got it. I need to show Hordak I’m capable of this.”

Scorpia nods understandably. She is always so understanding, so patient, so willing to give everything she has. Catra wonders what she sees in her that makes her want to give it all to Catra. 

“...hey, can I ask you something?” Scorpia asks after a pause. Catra looks at her questioningly. She hasn’t heard that hesitation in Scorpia’s voice since she first asked Catra out. 

“Uh. Sure?”

Scorpia visibly swallows. “Who was that girl? The one Entrapta was talking about a few weeks ago?”

Catra’s insides turn to ice. She inwardly curses Entrapta’s piercing intuition, but if her words were anything to go by...Catra wasn’t exactly being secretive that night. 

“Her name is Adora,” she admits quietly. “She’s...she _ was _ my friend. My best friend.”

“Oh.” A pause. Catra prays that’s the end of it, but— “What happened?”

Catra groans. “Do you _ really _ need to know?”

Scorpia blushes. “Well, no. But I’m curious, and we got some time before the fireworks, so…?”

Ugh. Great. 

“We had a falling out.” Catra says shortly, peeling off the cover of the cotton candy container with the edge of her nail. It makes a _ pop! _-ing sound as it falls off, and that too-sweet smell fills the air. “I applied to Horde Community, and she applied to Bright Moon.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Catra turns to glower at Scorpia. “Uh, yeah? Of course it is! We both planned to go to college _ together _ way before we even entered high school. The plan was _ always _ to stay together, no matter what, because we’re best friends. But nooooo, of course _ Adora _ had to go and be the high achiever! If she had just—just told me she was seriously considering Bright Moon, then maybe I would have applied there too.”

She sucks in a deep breath. Her face is burning and the frustration and hurt and anger she's been pushing down is now boiling under her skin. She clenches her hands into fists, her sharp nails digging into her palms. 

“But she didn’t tell me anything,” Catra finishes quietly. “She chose Bright Moon over me. It wasn’t hard to see what she cared more about.”

Silence falls. The distant sound of laughter and mindless chatter is slowly growing louder. People are coming closer for the fireworks. Maybe it’ll be enough of a distraction to keep the lump in her throat at bay. 

“Catra, I…”

Scorpia’s voice is unbearably kind and soft. It makes Catra’s stomach churn. 

“I know she hurt you, and that’s awful. No one should hurt you, ever! You’re too amazing and wonderful not to be someone’s number one.”

Catra looks over at Scorpia. The Senior is already staring at her, determined and flushed. More so than usual. 

“...what are you saying?” Catra asks slowly. 

“I’m saying—” Scorpia takes both of Catra’s hands in hers, squeezing tightly, “—that Adora might have left you, but _ I _ won’t. I’ll always be here for you, no matter what! I promise.”

Catra...doesn’t know what to say to that. She knows Scorpia means what she says, she always does. But, to be perfectly honest, Catra has had enough of promises and always to last a lifetime. 

* * *

Adora doesn’t know what makes her pick up her phone and dial that all-too-familiar number late on a Friday night. 

Okay, that’s a lie. She knows exactly why she’s calling Catra, and it has everything to do with the drink in her hand and the three empty glasses on the coffee table. Not all the glasses are hers—Glimmer is curled up on the couch next to Adora, her head resting comfortably in Adora’s lap as she dozes—but Adora has had just enough alcohol to make her think that just maybe Catra will talk to her. 

It’s a stupid idea. But that’s what the twenties are is all about, right?

Adora hums happily to herself as the phone rings. She pets Glimmer’s bubblegum pink hair, marveling at how _ soft _ and _ fluffy _ it is—

_ “Hello?” _comes a grumpy voice. 

Adora gasps, thrilled. “Catra!”

Static. Then—_ “Adora?” _ Catra is whispering now, sounding shocked. Adora doesn’t get why. They used to call each other every night back during high school. 

“Pshhhhh, of course it’s me, silly.” Adora tries not to giggle but it’s so hard when everything is warm and glowing. “Who else would it be?”

_ “...are you drunk? Have you been drinking?” _

“How would you know, _ huh?” _

_ “Adora, you’re slurring.” _

“Oh.” Adora does laugh, then. Loud enough for Glimmer to stir. “Whoops! Sorry, Caty.”

There’s a strange hissing sound from Catra’s end. _ “I told you not to call me that!” _

“Awwww, but it sounds so cute! It fits you perfectly!”

_ “Excuse me?! I am _ not _ cute—!” _

“I just got a cat, you know. He’s so soooooft and fluffffyyyyy. He kind of reminds me of you, haha.”

Catra groans._ “You’re still a total and complete idiot, I see. How did you even get a cat?” _

“He followed me home over the summer…”

_ “You’re seriously telling me Light Hope let you keep a cat?” _

“Ms. Hope wasn’t around~” Adora leans back into the cushions, imagining Catra’s face and what expressions she’s making. She probably has that little crease between her mismatched eyes right now... “I wasss at school, you know? Didn’t wanna come home an’ see you by accident, again.”

Silence. Adora starts humming to herself, not at all bothered by Catra’s sudden lack of words. This used to happen a lot back when they were still talking. 

When Catra does speak, it’s with an uncharacteristically quiet voice, _ “You really didn’t want to see me?” _

Adora shakes her head adamantly, even though Catra can’t see her anyway. “Nope. ‘Specially if you had yer girlfriend ‘round.”

_ “My girlfriend?” _

“Mhmm. Scorpion, or something?”

_ “She’s not my—” _ there’s a deep inhale, the kind that is long and full of suffering. “ _ Why am I even bothering to explain this? You’re wasted, and I don’t have anything to say to you.” _

“Yeah, w-well, _ I _ have a lot of stuff to say to _ you.” _

Catra scoffs_ . “You’re lying. If you had anything to say to me, you would have called me sooner.” _

Adora shrugs. She watches Swift Wind leap up onto the coffee table in front of her. His yellow eyes glow strangely in the dim light from the lamb. He meows loudly then jumps onto the couch next to her, and Adora laughs. 

_ “What was that?” _Catra asks. 

“My cat! Or, my other cat.”

_ “Adora, I am _ not _ your cat.” _

“Mhmmmm.” Swift Wind jumps to the couch and immediately curls onto her side. “Sssssure. Whatever you say, Caty~”

_ “God, you’re so annoying.” _

“Yeah, but you love meeee.”

More silence. Adora can’t tell if Catra is just struggling to reply or if she really _ doesn’t _love her, but her head feels too float-y right now to care much either way. She slowly runs a finger down Swift Wind’s white head and along his back. He cuddles closer, meowing still. 

“Shshshhhhhh.” Adora covers the cat’s mouth with her free hand. “Glimmer is _ sleeping _, Swifty!”

_ “Glimmer?” _ Catra echoes. The name seems to have brought her out of her stupor, but her tone is sour. Resentful. _ “Is that one of your stupid new friends?” _

Adora pouts. “She’s not stupid! She really_ —really _ great. I _ love _ her, okay.”

A sharp intake of breath. Is Catra really surprised by that? Adora has loved her, too. She _ still _ loves Catra, as silly as that makes her. 

_ “Hey...Adora?” _

“Mmmm?”

_ “Listen, I—I need you to concentrate for a second.” _

Adora whines. “I _ am _ concentrating! Why are you so meannnn all the time!”

_ “I’m not being _ mean,” Catra says and Adora can actually hear her rolling her eyes. _ “I just need you to focus. Can you do that? I need a straight answer, here.” _

Adora starts giggling again. She’s no where close to giving a ‘straight’ answer. How can she, when _ she’s _not even straight!

“Adora, _ please.” _

“Mmmyeah, yeah. I’m listening. I pinky promise.”

Catra sighs._ “You’re so stupid.” _

“Issat what you wanted me to focus on?” Adora asks with a hum. She’s petting Swift Wind again, but he keeps trying to climb onto her lap when Glimmer’s head is already there. It takes most of her attention to keep him off. 

_ “No, of course not! You’re so— _ ugh _ . I forgot you were this scatterbrained when drunk.” _

Adora finds that offensive. “Hey, I’ve got a brain, alright? I remembered your number an’ everything, right?”

_ “So, what, you want an award for it or something?” _

“Maybe…” 

Adora pictures Catra placing a medal over her head. Technically, Catra _ had _ done that when they were little—Adora had won first place in the Science Fair in sixth grade, despite Catra working so hard on her own project. Adora had thought Catra deserved the award more than she did, but she wasn’t a judge. She’ll never forget the frustrated and heartbroken look on Catra’s face when her foster mother started yelling and calling her a failure in front of the whole grade—

_ “Adora, focus.” _

“‘M focusing, I’m focusing,” she whines. 

Catra laughs. _ “Yeah, sure you are. Just...answer me this: are you and Glimmer, uh. You know. Are you t-together?” _

Adora frowns, glancing down at her sleeping friend. What does that mean, _ are they together? _

“Pshhhh, duh,” Adora says with a roll of her eyes. The room spins, and she immediately commits to never doing that again. “S’course we are, silly Caty. We live together an’, and stuff. Why wouldn’t we be together?”

And it’s true: her and Glimmer hang out alllll the time. Well, with Bow, but Catra didn’t ask her that. She just asked about Glimmer. And Adora’s answer is an honest one. 

But now Catra isn’t answering. Again. 

“Catra?” Adora slurrs. “Heyyyyy, Catraaaa. Where’d you go? Cat got your tongue?”

She giggles at her own joke. She’s so funny. Why isn’t Catra laughing, she used to think Adora was funny! But that was before, wasn’t it?

_ “...I gotta go.” _

“Wha’?” Adora sits up straight and Swift Wind meows loudly in protest. “Why? We only jus’ started—”

_ “I just do, okay?” _ Catra snaps and Adora blinks. _ “Have fun with Miss Sparkles, I’m sure you two look _ perfect _ together.” _

“Catra, what are you—?”

But the line goes dead before Adora can say anything else. And then she’s sitting alone in the dark again, staring at her cell phone while Catra’s name blinks across the screen.

* * *

The second after Catra hangs up, she flings her phone across the room. 

_ “Shit!” _

The phone hits a stacked mound of pillows on Catra’s bed and tumbles unharmed onto the mattress. Catra stares at it for a few seconds from her chair at her desk, chest heaving and mind racing and heart twisting. 

Everything hurts. Her head, her throat, her eyes. The phone call that had started off as a strange miracle ended in an absolute nightmare, and Adora’s slurred words are still ringing in her ears:

_ “Why wouldn’t we be together?” _

The lump in Catra’s throat grows bigger and, to her absolute and utter horror, her vision starts to blur. She hastily scrubs the heel of her hand across her face, not wanting to be seen—

_ BANG. _

“Catra?! Catra what’s wrong, I heard—”

Scorpia freezes in Catra’s now-open doorway. Catra gapes at her, shocked. She’d forgotten she ordered Scorpia out of her room so she could do First Ones homework. She’d fallen asleep in the middle of translating some lengthy paragraph, and then…

And then Adora had called. 

Scorpia gasps as Catra’s lip starts to wobble. “Oh, no, Catra! Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry—”

She rushes forward to pull Catra into a bone-crushing hug. Catra’s nose is squished awkwardly against Scorpia’s chest, but for once she doesn’t care. She hides her face in Scorpia’s arms as her body shakes with emotion. All she can picture is Adora and the unknown Glimmer, holding hands and laughing and—and _ kissing _. 

It really shouldn’t bother Catra this much. She knows it shouldn’t. She’s dating Scorpia, Adora can date whoever she wants. Catra doesn’t get to have an opinion, especially since she was the one to cut that stupid friendship bracelet off her wrist. But the truth of it all slices through Catra like a hot knife, agonizing and piercing in the same blow. 

Scorpia runs her fingers through Catra’s hair, clumsy but gentle and caring. She only pulls back when Catra has stopped shaking, and the soft look she gives her is enough to make Catra’s stomach twist with guilt. 

“Don’t worry,” Scorpia assures her. “First Ones language isn’t something to cry about, wildcat. I’ll help you, and we’ll be done in no time! How does that sound?”

Catra doesn’t have the energy to correct her. So she just nods numbly and lets Scorpia lead her through the rest of her work. But she doesn’t look at her phone again for the rest of the night, and by the next morning she hasn’t gotten a minute more of rest, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/6/2019
> 
> I almost forgot to post this today lol. Anyway, thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	8. Winter, Sophomore Year

Adora doesn’t have to go back home for winter break this year. She has her tour guide job, and she’s perfectly happy to do that—

“Wanna come visit my home with Glimmer for the break?” Bow asks her cheerfully about a week before the semester ends. 

And just like that, Adora isn’t spending the holidays alone at college anymore. It almost feels like a dream, getting to spend the best part of the year with the best friends (minus one) that Adora has ever had. The three of them laugh and sing along to the radio the whole three hour drive to Bow’s house, which is located in the middle of nowhere deep in a wood Adora has never even heard of. Bow’s dads are both so overjoyed at their arrival that they come rushing out of the house the second they pull in the driveway. 

Lance and George are probably two of the nicest people in the entire universe. They both dote on Bow, while being strict and fair about the rules under their roof. They ask Glimmer all about her Political Science classes and how her mother the Mayor is doing, and they even get Adora to translate some old artifacts they’d discovered on a work trip. They are kind and loving people and it makes Adora wonder how different she might have been if she’d been adopted by a family as wonderful as this. 

“Give me your phone,” Bow says about halfway through break. “We’re going down to the Holiday Market, but my dads want you to have their numbers in case we get separated.”

“Okay.” Adora hands it over without hesitance. She’s not worried. She trusts Bow, he wouldn’t snoop through her—

“When did you call _ Catra?” _

Glimmer sticks her head out from around the corner. “You called _ who?!” _

“Wha—I didn’t, I swear!” Adora holds up her hands in panic. “Why would I call her, she hasn’t talked to me in over a year!”

“That’s not what this says.” Bow holds out her phone and Glimmer scrambles around the couch he and Adora are sitting on to get a look at it. And sure enough, under recent calls is Catra’s name spelled out in bold letters. Apparently they had talked just a little over two weeks ago…

Adora squints at the screen before taking her phone out of Bow’s hands. “What the heck were we doing that night? Why don’t I remember this?”

“Oh!” Glimmer gasps. “That was our girls night in! Remember, we put on Pride and Prejudice and made that awful homemade pizza?”

Adora grimaced. “Ugh, don’t remind me. The cheese tasted like paste! But, then why don’t either of us remember talking to her?”

“Uh, because you were drunk?” Bow says as he shakes his head. “Both if you were passed out on the couch when I came home that night. Of course you wouldn’t remember something like that.”

Glimmer groans. “You really do have the worst impulses when tipsy, Adora.”

“Thanks,” she says with a roll of her eyes. 

“What did you even say to her?” Bow wonders. “I mean, you must have called for a reason. Your call lasted, like, ten minutes. Maybe you made up!”

“No way, she would have called me back by now…” A horrible idea occurs to Adora, and the blood drains out of her face. “Oh no, what if I said something really mean to her? What if she hates me even more now!”

“Adoraaa,” Glimmer sighs. “You worry too much! Relax, it’s the holiday season! I’m sure you didn’t say anything bad, you’re one of the nicest people we know.”

Bow nods in agreement, beaming. But the sinking feeling in Adora’s chest doesn’t leave, and it sticks with her all the way down to the Holiday Market and late into the night. 

* * *

It’s been three weeks and Catra is still in shock. 

Adora is dating. _ Dating_. Another girl—a girl who isn’t Catra! That means she was into girls the whole time she and Catra were friends, and she didn’t ask Catra out! Not even _ once! _How dare she?!

“And the worst part,” she growls to Entrapta when she visits the other student’s home during winter break. “Is that I can’t even check her social media to see what this Sparkles girl looks like! Maybe it would make me feel better if she looked like a toad or something—”

“Why can’t you see Sparkles?” Entrapta asks, voice muffled by her mask. She’s working on some new robotic research for Hordak, scattered wires and sheets of metal laying around her room. Why Entrapta decided to do work over break is a total mystery to Catra, but if she loved something that much maybe she would spend break obsessing over it, too. 

Catra turns on her heel and continues pacing across her friend’s room._ “Because _ when Adora left for college, I blocked her on every social media platform I could find.” It hadn’t been one of her finest moments. But pettiness is something she thrives in, hence the cut up friendship bracelet.

Entrapta lifts up her mask. “You could look on my account, if you want.”

_ That _ stops Catra right her tracks. 

“...you’re serious?” she asks, heart suddenly racing. 

“Sure! I only use it to post articles about my research so you shouldn’t have a problem seeing your friend’s account! Her name’s Adora, right?”

Catra almost slaps herself. Almost. “Adora is _ not _ my friend.”

“Really? ‘Cause you sure do talk about her a lot.”

Catra grits her teeth. “Just...give me your laptop. The sooner I look at this Sparkles the sooner I can forget all about her.”

“Whatever you say! My laptop’s over there, on the highest shelf.”

She points off towards a cluttered bookcase that is currently being used to hold what looks like a few hundred failed robot parts. Catra follows the line of Entrapta’s finger until she spots a thin and silver laptop perched as high as it could go. 

Catra groans. _ Great _. 

By the time she drags a chair over, climbs up the shelves, safely pulls down the laptop (and a few extra wires), Entrapta is back to working on her weird robot thing for Hordak. Catra pulls her chair next to her friend and plops down with a huff. 

“Here.” She shoves the laptop over and folds her arms over her chest. “Enter your password.”

Entrapta does so with a happy hum. Catra watches her, both impatient and oddly anxious. There’s a tight feeling in her chest, one that had lingered ever since Adora told her she was with someone. Catra doesn’t know what the feeling means exactly, but she doesn’t like it. She wants this constant thrum of stress to go away, the sooner the better. 

Even Scorpia had noticed something was wrong, though she hadn’t mentioned anything yet. Catra wonders how long it’ll take her to bring it up, and if Catra will answer her truthfully when she does. The knowledge that Catra is so tense because of another girl surely wouldn’t make Scorpia happy, so Catra hopes that she’ll never have to tell her. 

“Okayyyyy, here you go!” Entrapta hands over the laptop again and Catra yanks it forward. She quickly types in Adora’s name into the search bar and scans her profile. 

...the relationship status is single. 

Catra’s brow furrows. What the hell does _ that _ mean? Is she dating Sparkles, or isn’t she?

So, Catra digs deeper. She looks through pictures, reads text posts. She finds out that Sparkles is a girl who attends classes with Adora, and that she’s majoring in Political Science. There’s a good number of posts tagging her and another kid named Bow. It’s not at all surprising to her they all attend Bright Moon together. A perfect little trio attending the best college of the day. _ Ugh. _

But it’s oddly relieving that none of these pictures are the couple-y type. Catra knows what those look like, having been subject to Scorpia’s camera on more than one occasion. All these pictures are just...happy pictures. They’re all smiling or laughing or doing something fun, but there’s no kissing or longing looks. Does that mean Adora had been lying to Catra that night? Or was she just wasted out of her mind? 

The next picture makes Catra frown. It’s of the cat, the one who followed Adora home last summer, the one Adora said reminded her of Catra. And its name is _ Swift Wind. _

Catra snorts and shakes her head. “You’re so dumb,” she mutters under her breath and Entrapta perks up. 

“What did you say?” she asks loudly and Catra rolls her eyes. 

“Nothing! Just go back to your robot thing-y.”

But Entrapta is already leaning over to take a look at the screen. “Ooooooo, a cat! Is he Adora’s? He is _ adorable.” _

Catra stares at her. “Did you just…?”

“Did I just, what?” Entrapta asks, blinking at her. 

“...never mind.”

The cat is pretty cute. White fluffy fur and wide yellow eyes. It makes sense it would be drawn to Adora, who is also full of fluff and made from nieve stardust—

“When did your friend get him? He’s so _ small.” _

“She’s _ not _ my friend!” Catra snaps but Entrapta is unfazed. “She’s—just—_stop _ calling her that.”

“Then what should I call her?” Entrapta asks as she tilts her head curiously. Her eyes are too curious for Catra’s liking. “If she’s not your friend, what is she?”

Catra opens her mouth, then shuts it. She doesn’t know the answer to that question. She’s beyond furious and hurt from Adora, even after a year and a half of not talking. And yet, Catra spends a good portion of her time thinking about her. She’s upset at the idea of Adora being with another girl. If she really didn’t care about Adora, why would she be using her friend’s laptop just to look at her profile?

Catra looks away. “I...I don’t know. She’s something.”

“She’s a mystery? Ooooo I _ love _ those! Especially the really hard ones where you have to spend hours upon hours to pick apart the details and discover the secret underneath!”

Entrapta beams and Catra nearly groans again. Entrapta doesn’t need to know that Catra has already spent countless hours thinking about Adora. No one needs to know that. It’s embarrassing and stupid. 

“Let’s go eat,” Catra says with a sigh and hops off the chair. “You must be hungry, right? I’ll treat you, since you’re having me over and everything.”

Entrapta looks up from her robot, a gleam entering her eyes. “Can we find a place with little desserts?”

That causes a small smile out of Catra. “Sure. Whatever you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/9/2019
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	9. Early Spring, Sophomore Year

Adora doesn’t know if she should call Catra again or not. So, naturally, she asks her friends for help. 

“No!” Bow says adamantly, just as Glimmer says, “Absolutely not!”

“Excuse me,” Perfuma cuts in as Adora glares at her friends from across the table. “But _ who _ exactly are we talking about here?”

Mermista groans loudly next to her. _ “Please _ don’t tell me it’s that ex-friend of yours who cut up your friendship bracelet and dumped it at your feet.”

Adora winces. “Well…”

“Oh my _ god_, Adora. What more of a wake up call do you want? This girl obviously doesn’t care—”

“Now, now!” Mermista’s boyfriend, Seahawk, sits up importantly. “Friendship is a worthy cause! Some even say loyalty is the greatest adventure one can—”

“Okay, yeah, you can go all English major on us another time,” Mermista interrupts with a wave of her hand. “Did you not hear what I said? This girl cut up their friendship bracelets—they made those when they were, like, _ five!” _

“That does seem rather rude,” Perfuma says hesitantly and Glimmer throws up her hands. 

“See? That’s exactly what me and Bow have been saying this whole time! Don’t let her break your heart a second time, Adora!”

Adora looks around the table. All her friends are nodding in approval, and even Seahawk seems torn. 

“Bow?” Adora asks one last time and Bow sighs. 

“Normally I would say give her a chance, but...I don’t know, Adora. You deserve better friends.”

* * *

They’re kissing on the bed, with Catra’s back pressed against the mattress and Scorpia hovering above her. It’s not a bad feeling—Scorpia’s lips are warm and soft, and she tastes like the Mexican food they just ate for dinner. It’s nice being held like this, like Catra matters. Like she’s important. 

But there’s no real _ spark _. Catra doesn’t blush or get the butterflies that Scorpia always talks about all the time. She never feels the need to kiss Scorpia unless the other girl decides to kiss her first. Catra never thought of that as a bad thing before, but now, after this whole dating thing with Adora…

Catra is wondering if maybe it _ is _ a bad thing. You’re supposed to want to kiss the person you’re dating, right?

Scorpia pulls back. “You okay, wildcat?” She’s out of breath and flushed in the face. 

Catra lifts an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah? Why?”

Scorpia shrugs and sits back on her heels, allowing Catra to sit up. “I don’t know, you seemed sort of...distant.”

Catra quickly swallows down her panic. “Oh. Well, I am a little tired today.”

“It’s not just today. You’ve been distant a lot lately.”

“How long is lately?”

“Since...before break.”

_ Since Adora’s phone call, _ Catra’s mind supplies unhelpfully. She shoves that little voice right back down where it came from, and stomps on it for good measure. 

“Is it—Is it something I did?” Scorpia’s expression crumples and Catra watches in horror as her lip trembles. “Because if, if I d-did anything to upset you, I p-promise I didn’t—”

“No, it’s not you!” Catra yelps. She’s never been good with comforting people, she doesn’t know how to handle an emotional Scorpia right now. “It’s got absolutely nothing to do with you, don’t even think about it like that!”

Scorpia sniffs. Her eyes are swollen. “Then...what is it? I—I want this to work, Catra.”

_ Shit. _

Catra doesn’t see a way out of this. So, she steels herself for the worst and says timidly. “Do you, uh...remember that time I was crying over my First Ones homework?”

Scorpia nods, still sniffing. Catra swallows thickly. “Well, um. I wasn’t crying because of the—the homework. There was another reason.”

Scorpia waits patiently. Catra curses silently. Why was this so hard?

“I got a call just before you came in. From Adora.”

Scorpias eyes widen. “From your friend?”

_ Dammit. _

Catra snarls, “She’s my _ ex-_friend—!”

“Did she say something bad?”

“Wha—no. No.”

“Did she hurt you?”

_ “No!” _

Scorpia gasps. “I knew it! I knew she hurt you! What did she say? I promise, I’ll—I’ll go to her college right now and make her come back and apologize—”

The panic from before comes back in full force. “She didn’t do anything, jeez!”

Scorpia frowns at her. “But, if she didn’t do anything—”

“She _ didn’t.” _

“—then something else must have happened,” Scorpia finishes. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be reacting this way.”

Catra falls quiet. She hates that Scorpia knows her well enough to figure out when she’s not acting herself. Adora had been the only person who—

She grits her teeth. Adora Adora _ Adora. _ Why can’t she stop thinking about her?!

“Wildcat?”

Catra looks up. Scorpia is still watching her, ever patient and gentle and understanding. She deserves the truth, more so than anyone.

“...she called me when she was drunk,” Catra says slowly. Scorpia nods in an encouraging way and Catra wants to tell her to _ stop it, now— _ “And, uh. She babbled, a lot. Mostly about stupid things. Adora was always stupid,” Catra mutters to herself, frowning.

But that isn’t true, is it? Adora had always been beyond brilliant in academics and sports and socially. That’s why she’d gotten the She-Ra scholarship to Bright Moon. Only one person each year got that award, and it’s because Adora is so amazing that she got it. And she deserved it, but Catra _ still doesn’t want to hear it. _

“And?” Scorpia prods. Catra takes a deep breath.

“And she told me that—that she’s—”

Catra’s mouth is dry and her face is burning. Why can’t she get this out?

“—that she’s seeing someone,” Catra forces herself to say. She holds her breath, waiting for a reaction she doesn’t want to see. Because obviously Scorpia will connect the dots, and she’ll see…

...see what? What is it that Catra doesn’t want Scorpia to see?

“Oh! Is that all?”

Catra’s head snaps up. Scorpia still looks confused, but also relieved in a happy sort of way. Why does she look happy?

“I was worried something much worse had happened,” Scorpia sighs while Catra stares at her, not understanding. “You’re just upset that your friend has moved on, right? You’re sad about her replacing you.”

That is absolutely _ not _ what has Catra so out of it. She had accepted the idea of Adora having other friends a long time ago. But seeing as Catra can’t exactly place why she’s so upset about the idea of Adora _ dating… _

“Y-Yeah, that’s it,” she stammers out. Scorpia beams and pulls her into a hug. Catra hugs her back, but her heart is starting to twinge with that annoying ache again. And even Scorpia’s words of comfort isn’t enough to put her at ease.

* * *

It’s snowing outside. 

Adora stands in the middle of the white-covered field, mouth open in awe. Layers upon layers of sparkling ice blankets everything in sight and it’s breathtaking. It’s more beautiful than anything she pictured in her dreams as a child.

Her only regret is that Catra isn’t here to experience it with her. Does Horde Community even get snow? Probably not, it’s so close to their hometown and home had always been blistering hot…

“Adora, c’mon!”

Glimmer’s shout draws Adora’s eye. Both her friends are waving to her, covered head to toe in mittens and scarves and coats. None of them had thought to pack snow pants, but that hadn’t stopped them from adding on the layers and running outside anyway. Bow wouldn’t have let them pass this opportunity, no matter what they were wearing. 

Adora grins, her chest light. Cancelled school tomorrow, fresh snow on the ground, and her best friends in the world at her side. What else could she want?

_ “Adoooooraaaaa!” _

“Coming!” she shouts back, lifting her phone to grab a quick picture. She hesitates only for a second before typing in a familiar name and hitting send. 

She knows what her friends have told her. She knows they mean the best. But it’s only a picture, what harm could it do? Maybe Catra will see it and remember the times they used to talk about seeing snow together for the first time. 

* * *

It takes Catra a year into her relationship with Scorpia to realize that she doesn’t know much about the other woman. Scorpia is always asking about Catra, her likes and dislikes, her past and her future. She rarely offers her own opinion first. 

“Hey…” Catra begins as they start their long walk back from the gym. Sweat rolls down her back and the cool night air feels nice. It never really gets cold here, but the winter nights are at least not blistering hot like the summer days. “Have you ever dated anyone before?”

Scorpia’s head whips around so fast Catra would’ve thought she’d broken her neck. 

“Y-You really want to know?” Scorpia asks, sounding in awe. “You want to talk about me?”

“Well, duh?” Catra pants as she climbs up the stairs. Whoever thought of putting the gym at the bottom of a hill is a complete _ moron. _“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.”

Scorpia flushes. “Right, yes, of course. Um...I’ve dated casually? But nothing quite like this.”

Catra ignored the familiar twinge of uneasiness that rises in her gut. “Uh-huh. And what about friends? You never seem to hang out with anyone but me and Entrapta.”

“Oh. Well…”

The hesitation is something Catra doesn’t expect out of Scorpia. She glances over, still breathing heavy as she slowly climbs up the hill. Scorpia looks crestfallen—there’s a crease between her eyes, a frown lingering on her lips. 

“Well?” Catra says. 

Scorpia sighs. “No one really talked to me, before. I think I’m a little intimidating. Too big, you know?”

She gives a strange little laugh. Catra continues to stare at her, disbelieving. 

“But...you’re the nicest person I know,” Catra says and Scorpia turns an even darker shade of red. “Seriously, you’re almost _ too _ nice. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with you?”

There’s actual real tears welling up in Scorpia’s eyes now. For a moment, Catra thinks she’s said something wrong, but then Scorpia lunges forward to scoop her into a sweaty hug. 

“I always knew you were amazing,” she sniffs while Catra wheezes. “You’re the best, Catra!”

“Okay, okay, just—can’t—breathe!”

Scorpia releases her, still beaming. Catra gasps for air and massages her chest. She’ll never get used to that. She might as well be hugging a bear when it comes to Scorpia, with Adora their hugs had always been more—

_ Ping! _

...huh?

Catra grabs her phone out of her back pocket, frowning. She turns on the screen and her entire body freezes. 

Speak of the devil. 

“Catra?” Scorpia asks. “Hey, are you okay? You just got really pale all of a sudden.”

She leans over Catra’s shoulder to take a look at Catra’s phone. Catra is in too much shock to push her away. 

“Adora?” Scorpia repeats, frowning. “Isn’t that your friend from high school? I thought you said you weren’t talking!”

“We aren’t.” Catra stares at the all too familiar name. Adora’s contact picture is the same from graduation, with both of them trying to balance their stupid caps on their heads and hugging each other at the same time. Catra hasn’t seen that picture in ages, and the sight makes her heart ache. 

“But she texted you!” Scorpia points out. “And you said she called you, too. That must mean she wants to reconnect.”

Catra scowls and starts to put her phone away. “I doubt that—”

“Woah, woah, woah, you didn’t even look at the message! What’d she say?”

_ I don’t care what Adora said, _is the first thing that comes to Catra’s mind, but she bites her tongue. There’s no reason to be rude to Scorpia. Not when she’s been nothing but supportive of Catra. 

So, Catra takes out her phone again with a long sigh. She opens the message, dread surging with in her. 

But it’s nothing. Well, nothing but a picture: white, as far as the eye can see. It covers the trees and the buildings and the grass. Out of the corner of the picture, Catra can see two blurred people covered in the stuff. 

“Oooooo, it’s snow!” Scorpia gasps and Catra frowns. “I haven’t seen that in _ years _. Do you think it’s snowing at Bright Moon?”

“I guess so.” Catra’s frown deepens. Why would Adora send her this? Why would Adora think she _ wanted _ to be sent this? It’s stupid. 

(A distant part of her remembers how the two of them used to talk in hushed voices about the places they would go, and the sights they would see. Adora wanted to climb mountains and touch the snow-covered tops. They’d never seen snow, growing up in the desert that is Fright Town. But Adora wanted to see the world, and Catra—

—and Catra had just wanted to see it _ with _ her. But that, apparently, been too difficult of a request for Adora.)

Catra shakes the memories out of her head with a scowl. Stupid Adora. Stupid snow, stupid picture. 

“Aren’t you gonna reply?” Scorpia asks as Catra locks her phone again. 

“No?” Catra shoves her hands in her pockets and starts climbing up the hill again. “Why would I do that? It’s just a dumb picture.”

“But she’s reaching out!” Scorpia rushes ahead to catch up with Catra. They’re almost at the top of the hill, and then they can finally catch a bus and _ rest. _“Don’t you think you should answer her?”

“With what?” Catra grumbles. “Another equally dumb picture of the bus?”

“Maybe! Whatever you feel is right. She’s obviously making an effort to contact you.”

Catra doesn’t say anything to that. She doesn’t talk when the bus arrives or when it reaches her stop. 

Because she doesn’t know what to think about Adora. She never has.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/12/2019
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	10. Late Spring, Sophomore Year

Weeks pass. The snow melts, the trees start to bud and campus comes to life again with the sound of laughter and outdoor activities. 

And Catra never texts Adora back. 

Adora wonders for a while if she should be offended by this. Is Catra ignoring her on purpose, or had she not gotten the message? There’s no way to tell, so Adora sighs and puts the issue aside. She had offered an olive branch. It isn’t up to her to decide if Catra takes it or not. 

She has other things to worry about, anyway. Her workload is as challenging as ever, she finally figured out her major, and she just barely manages to get in all her required classes for next semester. She and Mermista end up in the same Tap Dance class to fulfill their ‘gym’ requirement and the look Mermista gives Adora tells her everything she needs to know about Mermista’s enthusiasm for the class. 

Meanwhile Perfuma wins the title ‘President’ for her eco-friendly club at school. 

“Thank you, thank you!” she says, blushing happily, when they all congratulate her at their weekly dinner. “There’s a ceremony for it, you know. I would be so honored if you could all come! If you want you can even bring Seahawk, Mermista—”

There’s a loud groan. “_ Maybe _ if he bothered to pack a suit in between all his scarves…”

“Ceremony?” Adora whispers to Glimmer. 

Her friend shrugs. “Yeah, and it sounds like we have to get dressed up for it, too.”

“But—it’s for a _ club.” _

Glimmer shrugs again and twirls her spaghetti around her fork. In the background, Adora hears Perfuma sigh wistfully, “Everyone one the board is bringing a plus one, except for me.”

“Oh, well, I could be your plus one? If you want?”

“Bow! You really wouldn’t mind it?”

“No problem! I think my dads made me pack a suit, it should be around my closet somewhere—”

Glimmer’s fork clatters to the plate and she whips her head around. _ “What?!” _

Her offended expression would be funny if it wasn’t so terrifying. So Adora sinks down in her seat a little and busies herself with shoving her own pasta into her mouth. She frowns as she listens to the sounds of her two friends fighting for the first time in..._ ever, _ and swallows before trying to ask Perfuma if she has a dress to borrow. 

* * *

There's still no sign online that Adora is dating anyone. The knowledge brings a bought of ease to Catra’s mind, though that strange guilt offsets it whenever she spends time with Scorpia. 

Logically, Catra knows her feelings towards Scorpia and Adora are connected. They have to be, it’s the only thing tying them together. Sometimes Catra wonders if it has to do with the fact that she made out with Adora the night before getting together with Scorpia. But thinking about that night makes her face warm and her chest strangely tight, so she pushes that memory deep deep down. 

She focuses on school, instead. She studies, passed exams with flying colors, becomes every teacher’s pet. She’s in favorable standing with Hordak, just like she planned. Kyle is keeping up with his paperwork and even Lonnie is starting to show her a bit more respect. All of her hard work is paying off. Next year, she’ll advance in the student body to become Hordak’s personal assistant. And then in her senior year...who knows? As long as Catra is top dog that’s all she cares about. 

She doesn’t need Adora. She never has. She’s excelling all on her own, and she’s going to do great things once she graduates. Then Adora will look back and regret everything, because she could have ridden this journey with Catra, they could have been on top _ together _...but some things weren’t meant to be. And Catra couldn’t be more proud of the person she’s become. 

* * *

Perfuma’s club ceremony thing is...tense, to say the least. 

For the first time in forever, Bow and Glimmer are bitter and angry at each other. They’re still talking, if short comments generally directed in the other’s space can be counted as talking. It’s stifling being with them in the apartment and when they study and eat their meals and do _ anything _ together, and Adora couldn’t be more glad that the end is finally in sight. 

When Adora enters the unused classroom being used as the ceremony space, she can hardly believe her eyes. It’s decorated top to bottom in plants and flowers, the tables are covered with plastic table covers, and there’s even _ real _ food ordered from a _ real _ supermarket—which is way better than the cheap stuff from the dining hall—

“Eh, it’s nice,” Glimmer says offhandedly when Adora expresses her excitement. She’s scowling moodily at Bow and Perfuma, both whom are laughing and chatting with the other Board members. 

Adora frowns. She knows why Glimmer is acting like this, though she wishes she wouldn’t. Bow is Glimmer’s person. They’re always together, have been since they were kids, and Adora rarely sees one without the other. They aren’t dating and Adora isn’t sure if they ever would, but...they were together, all the same. They fit. 

(They remind her a lot of herself and Catra, actually. Just without the strange make out scene from over a year ago.)

Adora rubs her neck, forcing down the warmth in her cheeks. She glances around the room for a distraction and finds exactly that in the form of Mermista and Seahawk entering the room. She drags Glimmer off without another word. 

The ceremony is nice. They’re allowed to get food and eat as the speeches are given, and each newly elected Board member is awarded their own succulent to grow in their rooms. Everyone claps, even Glimmer though she does it begrudgingly. 

Perfuma rushes over to them as soon as the ceremony is over. “Let’s take a picture!”

And that’s how Adora finds herself standing behind Glimmer, her arms wound around her friend’s neck in a sort-of hug. Seahawk has his arm thrown across Mermista’s shoulders and for once the Biology major actually has a smile on her face. Bow and Perfuma are beaming on the other side with their hands gently touching their respective backs. Adora can practically _ feel _ Glimmer oozing with frustration and she prays someone takes the picture is quick. 

Later that night, Adora hides herself in her room. She can hear Bow and Glimmer shouting even with the door closed and three pillows shoved on top of her head. Swift Wind keeps meowing like he’ll make a difference in the fight just beyond the door. It would be cute if all this noise wasn’t giving Adora a killer headache. 

Adora doesn’t know what happens next. She wakes the next morning to sweet, blissful silence. When she creeps out into the living room, Bow and Glimmer are collapsed on top of each other, both still in their party outfits. 

Adora sighs, relieved. Maybe she should take a leaf out of her friends’ books...would Catra stop hating her if Adora showed up on her doorstep and shouted nonstop until she saw sense?

_ No, _ Adora tells herself with a shake of her head and a small smile. _ She most definitely would not. _

* * *

Catra’s been staring at the new profile picture for the better part of the last hour. 

It’s getting to her head, she thinks. Whenever she blinks she sees that stupid puff of bubble gum pink hair, Adora’s arms wound gracefully around Sparkles’ shoulders like they were meant to be there. It didn’t help that everyone in the picture were grouped together with deliberate purpose—the girl with blue-dyed hair and mister mustache, a taller girl with flowers all up in her hair and some guy in a crop top, and then Adora and Sparkles. 

Catra’s eyes are burning. Why did Adora take this picture? Why did she have to pose like—like _ that? _ It says in the picture’s description that it was at some dumb club ceremony. But Adora doesn’t really _ do _ clubs, she was always into sports way more...or she had been, when they’d been friends. 

“You’ll go crazy staring at that all day!” Entrapta’s voice echoes around the lab and Catra grits her teeth. 

“I’m _ fine,” _ she snaps. She doesn’t look away from the computer screen, keeping her eyes narrowed as if that will help her see the picture better. 

Does Adora have to look so..._ pretty? _ Her hair is done up like usual, and the dress is the same as the one Catra had seen her in over a year ago. But in the light of day it’s much easier for Catra to see how the dress hugs her ex-friend’s figure, how her blue eyes stand out against the scarlet hue of the fabric. She’s smiling here, too. She looks genuinely happy, just like she had at Fright’s Winter Festival a lifetime ago. 

Aaaaand she is _ still _ wearing the stupid friendship bracelet. 

Catra’s stomach flops and twists and turns. She feels like she’s going to be sick. Maybe Entrapta is right, maybe she’s going _ crazy. _

“Scorpia is going to be back soon.”

Catra sits up and looks over. Entrapta is still doing her thing with her robot. Catra has absolutely no idea what it’s for, but it must be something important if it’s for Hordak. 

“What’s your point?” Catra asks when Entrapta doesn’t continue. 

“Nothing! I’m just stating a fact!” 

She hums to herself, her feet kicking back and forth in the air. Catra glares at her for a moment, trying to figure out if there’s a deeper meaning to that ‘fact’ or if Entrapta is really just that out there. She eventually decides on the latter. 

Still, Entrapta is right about Scorpia. So Catra closes Entrapta’s laptop and hands it over to the other girl. “Here. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Anytime,” Entrapta says brightly and puts the laptop on the table next to her workstation. “Scorpia told me how you’re trying to ‘reconnect’. I think it’ll be a fascinating experiment, you need all the facts ready!”

Catra scowls. She’s not trying to ‘reconnect’ with Adora, and she doesn’t know how much she appreciates being made part of one of Entrapta’s increasingly bizarre experiments’. But Entrapta did her a favor, calling her over here and showing her the picture. Catra wouldn’t have known, otherwise. 

...but what is that she knows, exactly?

“What are you going to do now?” Entrapta asks, voice muffled behind her mask as Catra collapses onto the couch. 

Catra stares up at the ceiling and closes her eyes. “I don’t know,” she says. 

She can still see the image of Adora and that girl. It’s been imprinted on the back of her eyelids. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/16/2019
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	11. Summer, Pre-Junior Year

Adora can’t believe that her second year of college is over, but over it is. 

She’s going to be a Junior this year. She, Glimmer and Bow resigned the lease for their apartment, Swift Wind is growing big as ever, and she looks towards her summer orientation job with hope for the rest of the new school year ahead. Bow and Glimmer get accepted for the job too, and all three of them stay up late on the last day of finals planning out fun activities to do with the incoming freshmen. 

What none of them could have planned, however, is the arrival of a short international girl from up north. 

“She just won’t leave me _ alone,” _ Glimmer grumbles. There are deep circles under her eyes from staying up late into the night and she holds the largest cup of coffee Adora has ever seen in her hands. 

Bow grins. “Aw, you have an admirer~” 

“An admirer would get me flowers! Or chocolate! But noooo, Frosta just follows me around with _ questions _ all day!”

“Isn’t that what she’s supposed to do?” Adora asks, kicking her legs back and forth. They’re sitting on a bench outside in the shade, waiting for the freshmen to finish their session on campus safety. “I mean, they are freshmen. They don’t know anything.”

“Remember when we were that small and innocent?” Bow sighs and Adora snickers. 

“I don’t think we were ever _ innocent—” _

“Guys, c’mon!” Glimmer wails. “I can’t even focus on my other kids, she’s taking up all of my time.”

Bow leans back on his hands. “Well...maybe you should just try talking to her?”

“What is _ that _ supposed to mean? I’ve been talking to her nonstop—”

“No, I mean, have a one on one conversation with her. A heart to heart. She’s probably just scared, I know I was.”

Adora stops kicking. She’s never seen Bow scared of anything before, he was always happy and excited for the future in her memories as a first year. “Really?”

Bow nods. “Of course. I was living away from my parents for the first time, I didn’t know anyone except from Glimmer. Forget about telling my parents I didn’t want to major in History! And this girl isn’t just coming from another town—she’s coming from another _ country. _She’s more alone than any of us were.”

Glimmer glares down at her sparkly sandals and grumbles, “I guess that could be it…”

“Were you scared about leaving home?” Adora asks her. 

Glimmer frowns. “Why would I? My mother was constantly hanging over my shoulder back then, and her bodyguards never let me do _ anything _ on my own. No way, I needed to escape.”

Bow nudges her gently. “Yeah, but didn’t you miss her? Even if it was just a little?”

“...maybe just a little…”

Adora looks off in the distance, mind wondering. Had she ever missed home? In some aspects, she had to: she missed the kids at the orphanage, her usual hang out spots around town. She missed Ms. Hope’s advice, though it hadn’t always been the best.

But mostly, Adora missed Catra. She _ still _ misses Catra. She misses her laugh, that mischievous grin, they way she said Adora’s name. Adora misses their inside jokes and stupid memes. She can’t believe it’s been so long since they’ve stopped talking. It seems like a lifetime ago, but all her memories feel like they happened yesterday. 

The doors behind them open. Adora looks over her shoulder to see the freshmen spilling out of the building, talking loudly. 

“They’re back!” Adora says and gets to her feet. “Showtime, guys!”

Glimmer groans. 

* * *

Scorpia’s graduation ceremony is nice enough. But it’s held outside, at the crack of dawn, and Catra would so much rather be curled up in her bed with her covers pulled over her head than on a hot field on a very hot summer day. 

But, despite her displeasure, she makes it through the entire ceremony without falling asleep a single time. Entrapta had made this huge boombox thingy in preparation and when Scorpia’s name is called out, their cheers are the loudest in the entire stadium. Catra can see Scorpia blushing even from her spot on the stage, and Catra can’t help but smile. 

There’s a dinner next weekend to celebrate the graduation with Scorpia’s whole family. Both Catra and Entrapta are invited, but for now Catra heads back to Fright Town and tries to come up with new ways to get out of her foster home once and for all. 

Adora might not have exactly loved being an orphan, but Catra _ hates _ being a foster kid. There’s nothing about her foster mother, Shadow Weaver, that makes her crave for her embrace. Catra doesn’t even think Shadow Weaver has hugged her _ once _. The old woman manipulative, cruel, and horrible on the best of days. Even the robot that is Light Hope is better than Shadow Weaver. 

And maybe that’s why Catra finds herself standing outside of Adora’s orphanage. Not because of Light Hope exactly, but because Catra’s thoughts always seem to circle back to Adora in one way or another. 

Catra stares at the house. She knows this place better than her own home, can spit out a hundred different memories she had on that front porch. Her eyes automatically drifts to the window on the second floor to the right—Adora’s room—and swallows her disappointment when she sees the light is off. 

What had she been expecting, really? That Adora’s eager face would appear and she’d run down the stairs just like she always had? Catra knew what she was doing when she tore up their friendship bracelet. She’d known there was no coming back. 

And yet, here she is. 

The door opens and Catra jumps. She tenses and turns, ready to make a run for it, but then—

“Catra? What are you doing here?”

The empty, dispassionate voice grates on Catra’s ears. She grits her teeth, just barely holding back a groan, and turns back around to face Adora’s mother figure. 

Light Hope blinks at Catra slowly, as if not believing she’s actually here. Light Hope still has the same cropped dark hair and sharply angled eyes as Catra remembers. _ Everything _ about her is sharp—her jawline, her figure, her suit. There’s nothing soft or warm about her, and even just talking to her makes Catra’s hair stand on end. 

“Heyyyyy, Ms. Hope,” Catra says awkwardly. “Funny seeing you here.”

Light Hope tilts her head. “I live here. It is not very amusing at all.”

God, it’s like talking to a _ robot _ with this woman. “Yeah, I know. Sorry to barge in, I was just...uh—”

“Are you looking for Adora?” Light Hope asks. Catra opens her mouth to say, _ no, absolutely not, _ but Light Hope continues before she can get a word in, “Adora is not here. She has not returned home in a year and a half.”

Catra blinks. _ A year and a half? _That means...winter. Winter of their freshman year. That time when she and Adora ran into each other at the Winter Festival. Catra’s stomach sinks to the ground. Has Adora really not returned all this time? Had she been telling the truth when she said she didn’t want to see Catra again?

“If you wish to speak to her, I would suggest calling her number,” Light Hope says dispassionately. “Or, perhaps, you would be better off calling Glimmer or Bow. They are very reliable sources of contact.”

Catra stiffens. “Glimmer?”

“Yes, Glimmer. Adora’s friend.”

Catra stares at Light Hope, long and hard. She can’t tell if Light Hope is trying to deliberately mess with her, or if she doesn’t know her own daughter’s relationship status. 

“...you know what?” Catra says, thinking hard and fast. “Give me Adora’s friend’s number. Maybe I will call.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/22/2019
> 
> Thanks for reading! Sorry for the delay in posting this, a friend of mine hung out with me all weekend so I got distracted haha
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	12. Fall, Junior Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9/28/2019
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)

“...uh-oh.”

Adora lifts her head off the couch to look dowsily at Glimmer. “Wha’ issit?” 

It’s the end of the summer. All the orientation sessions are over, school is starting up again in a few days, and it is hot as _ hell. _Adora hasn’t been outside of the apartment once all day and she doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. 

Glimmer frowns from her seat on the kitchen counter. She’s staring at something on her laptop screen, but whatever it is she’s looking at can’t be anything good because she starts hitting the side of the computer adamantly. 

“C’mon,” she growls. “Work!”

Adora watches her lazily for a bit longer. Glimmer’s hitting gets more and more aggressive with each passing second. 

“I don’t think that’s helping,” Adora says eventually and Glimmer makes an annoyed hissing sound. 

_ “Ugh! _ I can’t _ deal _ with this—Bow! Bow, I need some help!”

“What kind of help?” came the call from Bow’s room. 

“The tech-y kind!”

Bow emerges from his room, still wearing his Bright Moon T-shirt and pj pants, and pads over to the very stressed out Glimmer. Adora watches him fiddle with Glimmer’s laptop for a solid fifteen minutes while Glimmer hovers behind him anxiously. After a while though she gets bored and goes back to pushing Swift Wind off. He keeeps trying to climb up her shirt and curl around her shoulders. It might be cute if he wasn’t so big and heavy and furry—he’s not exactly a kitten anymore, but he sure keeps acting like one. 

“Yeahhhh, I don’t know what this is,” she hears Bow say and Glimmer shrieks. 

“Bow! I _ need _ this laptop, I’m trying to switch out one of my classes with Perfuma. If I don’t get into this biology class I won’t get my science credit and then I won’t graduate!”

Swift Wind lets out a particularly loud meow of protest as Adora finally manages to peel him off her shirt. She puts him in her lap and quickly pets him into submission, glancing at her friends out of the corner of her eye. 

“Why don’t you ask for help online?” she suggests. “That sometimes helps me when I’m looking for homework answers.”

Glimmer glowers at her. “This isn’t for homework, Adora. It’s a very expensive laptop. I don’t think—”

Adora shrugs. “Okay, then, just be prepared to lose that biology class!”

Glimmer goes very pale, very quickly. 

* * *

Catra is attempting to read The History of the First Ones when Entrapta slides up next to her, asking in a very loud voice, “Hey, Catra. This Sparkles person you always talk about—is her name Glimmer?”

Catra glances over at her friend out of the corner of her eye. “...why are you asking me?”

“Because there’s someone online posting about, hmm—” She squints at the computer screen, “—computer problems. I believe I can fix it!”

“And her name is Glimmer?”

“Sure is! And she’s got that profile picture with that other friend you never shut up about.”

Catra clenches her jaw. No matter how many times she’d told Entrapta that _ no, her and Adora are not even close to being friends, _she somehow never listens. 

“So?” Catra snaps. “Why are you bringing this up to me for?”

“Well, I can’t exactly take care of the problem unless I talk to Glimmer directly. I need to walk her through how to fix it. Do you have her number?”

Catra sputters. “Wha—Why do you think _ I _ would have her number?”

“Well, you have your friend’s number, right? And since _ they’re _ friends, I can—”

“Okay, I get it, I get it!” Catra sighs and rubs her forehead. She can feel a headache coming on. “But why do you want to help her out in the first place?”

Entrapta looks at her, scarlet eyes shining with excitement. “Science!”

* * *

“You have got to be kidding me,” Glimmer says in the dining hall a week later. 

Adora looks away from her laptop, blinking rapidly. She’s been staring at the same translation of First Ones writing for an hour and her eyesight is starting to go blurry. It’s only a week into school, how does she already have so much homework? “What is it now? Don’t tell me your phone is broken, too.”

“No, nothing like that!” Glimmer waves her free hand, the other tapping at something on her phone. “I just...I think Catra is calling me?”

Adora shoots up in her seat. _ “What!” _

“You’re joking!” Bow says from the other side of the table. 

“I’m not, I swear! Look—” Glimmer shoves her phone in Adora’s direction and Adora scrambles to grab it. “That’s her number, right? I think I recognize it!”

Adora gapes at the screen in disbelief. That’s Catra’s number, alright. But how did she get Glimmer’s number, and why is she calling?

“Should I answer?” Glimmer whispers. 

Adora shakes her head, stunned. “I—I don’t know.” 

“Well, she’s obviously calling for a reason!” Bow says as he scoots his chair closer. “What harm could answering her do?”

They all share an apprehensive look. No one knows the answer to that question. Glimmer and Bow have heard enough of Adora’s childhood stories by now to be wary of Catra’s intentions, and Adora...she doesn’t feel like she knows Catra at all, now. 

She takes a deep breath. “Let’s answer it.”

Glimmer frowns. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Let’s put it on speaker, though—it’s after lunch, no one is here except for us, anyway—”

So, she presses the green button and the speaker. Then she sits back and holds her breath.

Glimmer hesitates. “Um...hello?”

Static. Then—

_ “Hello, Sparkles,” _ came that familiar drawl. _ “Don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” _

“Catra!” Adora hisses quietly and there’s the sound of laughter. 

_ “Why, hello to you too, Adora. Can’t say I’m surprised to find you with Sparkles—” _

Glimmer glares at the phone. “It’s Glimmer! Not—Not _ sparkles _, ugh!”

_ “Hate to break it to you, but those are basically the same thing.” _

Glimmer hisses and Bow forces her to sit down in her seat. Adora quickly steps in, “Why are you calling, Catra? If you wanted to speak to me, you could have just—”

_ “Oh, but the thing is, I _ don’t _ want to talk to you,” _ Catra says in a mocking tone. _ “I called Sparkles for a reason, you know. Not everything has to do with you, Adora.” _

Adora’s cheeks warm. The jab shouldn’t hurt, not after everything Catra has said to her, but it _ does _ and she has to bite on her bottom lip to keep herself from making a sound. 

“...what do you want with me?” Glimmer asks. The anger seems to have gone out of her after seeing the hurt on Adora’s face. “I don’t exactly want to spend my time talking to you.”

_ “For once, we agree. I’m calling on my friend, Entrapta’s, behalf.” _

“Entrapta?” Glimmer looks to Adora but Adora shakes her head. She’s never heard of this person before. 

_ “Yeah, Entrapta. She’s this super robot genius doing her PhD in mechanical engineering or something.” _ Catra lets out a long suffering sigh, as if someone is bothering her on her end. _ “But the point is, she saw your computer problems post online and she wants to help.” _

“Help—?”

_ “Yes, hello!” _ a new voice is speaking now. The owner is loud and enthusiastic and all three Brigt Moon students lean away from the phone in surprise. _ “It’s a very simple mechanical error, I can walk you through it if you just give me some time!” _

“It’s not that simple,” Bow speaks for the first time. “I’ve tried everything I know. Nothing works.”

_ “Well, have you tried—?” _

“Woah, woah, wait a second!” Glimmer shouts. “How do I know I can trust you won’t mess up my computer? I made that post a week ago!”

_ “Yes, well, it did take quite a while for me to convince Catra to call…” _

Adora’s eyebrows shoot up. It took a while to convince Catra, huh? Wonder what the hesitation was all about. 

_ “Yeah, well, who cares?” _ Catra is back. Adora can practically hear her rolling her mismatched eyes. _ “We called eventually, didn’t we? So suck up your stupid pride and let Entrapta fix your machine before she drives me crazy!” _

Glimmer looks to Adora. Adora knows what she’s asking:_ can we trust her? _

Adora shrugs. She has no idea. Glimmer has already secured a place in her biology class by using Bow’s laptop, and they have a scheduled appointment with Best Buy tomorrow at noon. The laptop would be fixed no matter what, but would Entrapta know what to do or would she mess it up?

Bow leans in to whisper to Glimmer, “Let’s just see what she had to say. I’ll know if she’s telling the truth or not.”

Catra snaps,_ “Uhhhh, hello! We’re still here! We can hear everything you’re saying!” _

Glimmer takes a deep breath, stealing herself. Adora can tell she’s made her section by the look in her eyes. 

“Okay. You have my attention.”

* * *

They fix Sparkles’ laptop. Of course they do, because Entrapta knows what she’s talking about and they're not idiots like these Bright Moon attendees. 

Catra gets a text from Adora a few hours later:

_ Thank you _

It takes Catra a few days to reply back:

_ I didn’t do it for you _

Adora sends back a text a few minutes later:

_ I know. But you were a big help anyway. So thank you. _

Catra doesn’t know how to reply to that. So, she doesn’t. 


	13. Winter, Junior Year

Adora can’t stop thinking about the fact that Catra willingly went out of her way and helped Glimmer. 

Well, ‘willingly’ might be a stretch. Entrapta did say it took her a full week to get Catra to actually do something. But it was the first time they’ve talked to each other without any real hostilities (minus that whole ‘not everything is about you, Adora’ bit. Adora’s heart is still stinging a little from that comment, but she pushes it down and moves on. That’s what Catra would do, anyway.)

But what she really doesn’t understand is how Catra got Glimmer’s number in the first place. They’d never even talked before then. And Glimmer is sure she never gave by accident when Adora asks her. 

In the end, it’s Light Hope that gives her the answer. 

_ “I gave her Glimmer’s number,” _Ms. Hope tells her flat out over the phone, obviously not knowing how that single sentence has the power to rock Adora’s world. 

“Wh-Why?” she asks once she’s gotten over the shock. “How did you two even talk?”

_ “She appeared in front of the house one day last summer. I asked if she was looking for you. Did I forget to mention this?” _

Adora slaps a hand over her face and groans. “Yes. Yes, you did. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

_ “I am sorry. I did not realize this was important information.” _

Adora sighs and stares up at the ceiling. She doubts Catra was really looking for her that day, no matter what Ms. Hope says. She was probably bored or something. 

...but she had accepted Glimmer’s number. And _ kept _ it. So, why—?

_ “Adora? Adora, are you still there?” _

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m here.”

_ “I have not yet received your answer.” _

Adora sighs again. She doesn’t see why she needs to give an answer. It’s not like she has much of a choice—Bow is going on vacation with his dads this break, and Glimmer’s mother is adamant she go home, too. So that leaves Adora, alone. 

“...yeah,” she finally says. “I’ll be home for winter break this year.”

* * *

Catra doesn’t expect to run into Adora at Fright Town’s Winter Festival this year. Why would she? Light Hope said Adora hadn’t returned home in years, and Adora herself told Catra she didn’t want to see her—

But then she practically walks into Adora as she strolls through town square, and after that she really has no choice _ but _ to see her. 

“Wh-What are you doing here?!” Catra sputters, pain blooming across her face where she’d collided with Adora. 

“Me?” Adora repeats incredulously as she rubs her nose, grimacing. Catra wonders if she’ll bruise there. “What are _ you _ doing here?”

“I live here, genius.”

“Well, so do I!”

“Wouldn’t know it, seeing as you’re never around,” Catra hisses. “Always hanging out with your perfect little friends and their perfect little lives. Where are they now, huh? Off buying you holiday gifts are something?”

“They’re not here,” Adora snaps in return. “And stop insulting them, they’re good people! Where’s _ your _ girlfriend, anyway? I thought holiday shopping was a romantic thing.”

Catra’s face heats up, both in anger and in self-awareness. Still, it sounded like Adora is pretty bitter about Scorpia. How _ interesting _. 

“She’s not here,” Catra says coolly and folds her arms. “And I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Well, I don’t have to tell you anything, either!”

“Fine!”

_ “Fine!” _

They both stop short, breathing heavy. People are whispering and give them a wide berth but Catra couldn’t care less. Adora looks equal parts flustered and frustrated, her cheeks stained red and her eyes narrowed. She looks like she could pick Catra apart with her bare hands and Catra _ likes _ it. Anger is a good look on Adora. It makes her look alive.

Catra leans back before she is tempted to do anything stupid. “You’re still as impossible as ever.”

Adora scoffs. “I could say the same to you, you know.”

Catra narrows her eyes. “If I’m so ‘impossible’ why don’t you leave?”

Adora rolls her eyes. “Believe it or not, Catra, I am here for a reason.”

“For what, to get presents for your friends?”

“Well, yeah. Plus…” She hesitates, licking her lips. Catra’s gaze darts down for a second. “It’s my birthday next month. Ms. Hope gave me some money and told me to get something for myself.”

The air leaves Catra’s lungs. Adora’s birthday. Right. How could she have forgotten? Adora would be turning twenty one this year. Is she having a party, is there anything in particular she wants?

Catra forces herself to swallow down the questions rising to her lips. Instead she just says, “Oh.”

They stand there awkwardly for a few seconds. Catra knows she should be turning on her heel and striding away. But it’s been so long since she’s seen Adora face to face, and even longer since she had a conversation _ sober _ and _ alone _ with her. 

Adora fiddles with her hands and glances to the side. Catra can tell she’s thinking something by the way her blue eyes keep darting back to Catra. And sure enough—

“Would you want to, um...shop with me?”

“No,” Catra blurts out before she can stop herself. 

Adora’s hopeful expression crumples. Horror rises into Catra’s throat. Shit. Shit shit _ shit _. She had not meant to say that, did not want to see that heartbroken look on Adora’s face again—

“Oh,” Adora says, wilting a little. “Okay. That’s—fine. Um. I guess, I’ll leave—”

Catra grabs Adora’s wrist before she can turn away. Adora stops, glancing back down at Catra’s hand before meeting her gaze. 

It’s like deja vu. In a second Catra’s back in that dark club with pounding music and flashing lights. Adora’s skin is warm, the beads of her friendship bracelet brushing against Catra’s fingers, and her heart stutters before jumping into her throat. And all she can see are those piercing blue eyes. 

There’s a long pause. 

“I didn’t mean that,” Catra says after a moment. 

Adora looks skeptical. “You didn’t?”

“No. I, uh...have some stuff to buy too,” Catra comes up with lamely. “You know. For Scorpia.”

Adora frowns. “Oh, yeah. Of course.”

Catra scowls and tightens her grip on Adora’s wrist. “So?”

“So, what?”

_ “So, _can we shop together?”

A small smile creeps across Adora’s lips. The sight shouldn’t make Catra’s heart beat just a little bit faster but it foes—

“Sure.”

Catra grins back. _ Success. _

* * *

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say they’re not dating at all,” Adora tells Bow later that night. Glimmer can’t talk because her mother took her out shopping, but she sent a flurry of texts to Adora demanding to know the details of earlier that day. 

Because she and Catra had _ hung out. _ For several hours, and they had hardly yelled at all! Adora still couldn’t believe it and she had _ been _ there. 

Bow makes a humming sound. _ “That is so weird.” _

“I know, right? If I was dating someone I would be really happy to get them gifts. Catra just seemed so...nonchalant?”

_ “Do you think they broke up?” _

“I dunno,” Adora sighs and rolls over onto her stomach. “I can never figure out anything with her.”

_ “Huh. Well, look on the bright side: she didn’t yell at you for once.” _

“That’s true.” Adora turns her head and stares out the window. There are no snowflakes here, no winter wonderland like up at school. It makes Adora miss Bright Moon more than ever. “It was actually kind of nice, talking to her. It felt like normal.”

_ “See?” _ Bow says and Adora can hear the smile in his voice. _ “Progress.” _

Adora laughs quietly. “Yeah,” she agrees and let’s her eyes flutter shut. “Progress...she did ask me a lot of questions about Glimmer, though.”

_ “That’s...weird.” _ Bow sounds just as puzzled as Adora feels. _ “Why would she do that?” _

“Beats me. It was a bunch of weirdly specific stuff though, like what we do for fun and if we’re serious.”

_ “Uh, okay. That’s even weirder.” _

“Right?”

Adora frowns, eyes fluttering shut. She can hear Swift Wind meowing and scratching at her door again. If he keeps at it, Ms. Hope will come in and yell at her. But Adora really doesn’t want to be distracted right now. 

There’s a sharp bark of laughter._ “Hey, Adora.” _

“Yeah?”

_ “What if—What if she thought you and Glimmer were...you know...a thing?” _

Adora’s eyes snap open. “What?! Why would she think that?”

_ “Not sure. But it makes sense, right? Why else would she ask if you were ‘serious’?” _

Adora wrinkles her nose. “Maybe. I don’t think Catra cares about that sort of thing.”

_ “Adora. She made out with you that night freshman year.” _

“Th-That doesn’t have to do with anything!” Adora says shrilly. Her face feels like melted wax and her heart pumps just a bit faster. “She’s dating Scorpia! She hates me!”

Bow hums. _ “Just because she’s dating someone else doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you. And you’d be surprised how close hate and love get mixed up.” _

Adora groans and buries her face into her pillow. She hadn’t thought her relationship with Catra could get any more complicated. Clearly, she was wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/3/2019
> 
> Can you believe we're into October already? Thank you for reading!


	14. Early Spring, Junior Year

_ “Did you get back alright?” _ Scorpia’s panicked voice is loud in Catra’s ears. _ “Did you forget anything?” _

“Nope, and nope,” Catra grunts as she dumps her luggage on her bed. “Seriously, Scorpia. Even if I did forget something, you could always mail it to me.”

_ “Oh. Ha, right. O-Or I could come and visit?” _

“Or you could come and visit,” Catra confirms and hears Scorpia give a sigh of relief. 

_ “Good. That’s...good. I’m really glad you stopped by my house on the way back to Horde Community, you know? It’s been too long since I’ve seen my wildcat.” _

Catra’s cheeks grow warm. There’s that familiar twist of guilt in her chest, an awful twinge that’s been growing stronger and stronger every time she talks with Scorpia. She doesn’t know why she feels this way—she hasn’t done anything wrong. Though she’s far from being the perfect girlfriend, either…

“I’m sorry,” she says after a pause. She kneels down on the floor, propping her phone on her desk so she can talk and unpack at the same time. “I didn’t mean to let so much time pass between your graduation and then.”

_ “Nah, it’s alright! I know you’re busy being Hordak’s assistant.” _

“Yeah, well—” Catra grunts and she opens her luggage, “—Hordak isn’t exactly a picnic. But I can handle him.”

_ “I _ know _ you can,” _ Scorpia encourages. _ “And I’ll be here to help you every step of the way!” _

Catra grimaces. That really isn’t at all necessary. She wants to do this on her own, to prove that she really can handle the responsibility! But saying that would hurt Scorpia’s feelings. So Catra just shuts up and takes an armload if socks out of her luggage. 

_ “Oh, actually, you know, I think you did forget something?” _

Catra frowns as she dumps the socks into her drawer. “What are you talking about?”

_ “There’s a package here in my room! It looks like something delicate—it’s wrapped up in that fun bubble popping stuff.” _

Catra’s heart plummets to the ground and the blood rushes out of her face. 

_ “Uh, Catra? Hellooooo. You still there?” _

Catra forces herself to breathe. Scorpia can’t open the package. She just can’t. If she does, she’ll see the gift. And if she sees the gift, she’ll want to know who it’s for—

_ “Oooooo, wow, Catra! This is so pretty! Where’d you get it?” _

_ ...Shit. _

Catra lowers herself to her bed, gripping the bedpost tight enough for her nails to sink into the wood. “I—I got it at my town’s Winter Festival.”

Scorpia lets out an appreciative whistle._ “Wow,” _ she repeats. _ “Your town really has some nice stuff. Why’d you buy it? Is it for someone _special~?”

Catra closes her eyes and wishes she were anywhere but here. She can’t lie. She won’t. Scorpia is...Scorpia doesn’t deserve lies. And Catra’s intentions were innocent. She would understand. 

Catra takes a deep breath. “I...I got it for Adora. It’s her twenty-first birthday soon, so I thought I should get her something.”

_ “...oh.” _

The surprise in Scorpia’s voice makes Catra’s stomach churn. 

After a slight pause, Scorpia asks,_ “I thought you two weren’t talking?” _

“We aren’t,” Catra says automatically. “Really. We just happened to run into each other at the Festival, and she told me her mom had given her money for her twenty-first and stuff.”

_ I’m babbling, _ Catra realizes to her horror. She is full on rambling, and she only ever does that when she gets nervous. 

_ “Okay,” _ Scorpia says slowly. If Catra’s phone wasn’t so damn expensive, she would have thrown it out the window by now. _ “So, you got her a bracelet?” _

“Y-Yeah. To make up for the one I cut up in front of her.”

_ “You really want to reconnect with her, huh?” _

Catra swallows thickly. “I don’t know what I want with Adora. But...getting this for her felt right.”

There’s silence on the other end. Catra is just starting to wonder if she should go on full panic mode when Scorpia sighs. 

_ “I can get that,” _ she says and Catra sighs in relief. _ “Do you want me to send it to her for you?” _

“No!” Catra yelps. “No, I’ll send it to her.”

_ “But, how will you get it—?” _

“I’ll come and visit you, obviously. How’s that sound?”

Scorpia’s response to that is genuine excitement, and Catra breathes a sigh of relief. Thank god. Hopefully a personal visit will distract Scorpia from the fact that she’d bought jewelry for another girl. 

And in the meantime...Catra really should figure out what she wants with Adora.

* * *

Adora stares at the package. 

The address is from a place she doesn’t recognize, written in a handwriting she doesn’t know. She doesn’t know who it’s from, or why it’s arrived. She wasn’t even expecting a delivery when she got the notification in her email. Wouldn’t Ms. Hope tell her if she was sending her something? But Ms. Hope had forgotten things before…

Taking a deep breath, Adora starts the process of tearing apart the package. For something so small, it really is taped up heavily. There must be something important in it, why else would someone go through the trouble?

She’s breathing heavy when she finally pries off the last bit of tape. She sets the scissor to the side and carefully pulls back the box flap. 

There, hidden underneath a healthy layer of styrofoam, is a smaller box—and a letter. This time Adora recognizes the handwriting in the envelope just fine and she picks it up with a racing heart. 

She opens the letter first. It’s a very simple card, a standard message of good wishes and many birthdays to come. Adora’s name is written in scraggly letters at the top, and it’s signed the same way. Something in her chest clenches tight. Adora gazes at the handwriting for a long moment before turning to the box. 

She lets out a quiet gasp when she sees what’s inside: a beautiful golden bracelet, decorated with a scattering of red gems and a larger blue one in the center. It’s achingly familiar, and Adora glances at the friendship bracelet on her wrist as her eyes sting. 

_ Knock! Knock! Knock! _

“Hey, Adora!” Glimmer’s voice calls through the door. “Seahawk and Mermista are here for your birthday dinner. We have to head out soon if we’re going to keep the reservation...Are you almost ready?”

Adora looks up and clears her throat. “Y-Yeah! Just one sec!”

“Okay, but we’re heading out in five!”

The sound of Glimmer’s footsteps fade. Adora turns her attention back to the gift. 

Hesitantly, Adora unravels the old bracelet on her wrist. Her arm feels strangely light without it. But it doesn’t take her long to fasten the new one on. It fits perfectly, like it was meant to be there. 

Adora picks up the letter again and rereads it. Catra’s message makes sense now: _ ‘An upgrade for your old one. Happy twenty-first birthday, Adora.’ _

“Adora! Are you coming or what?”

“Coming!” she yells back and scrambles to her feet. She leaves the letter on her bed as she rushes out of her room. She’ll have time to decipher the hidden meaning of Catra, later. But right now, it’s dinner time. 

* * *

Catra receives her next set of texts from Adora about a week after she sends the package.

_ T _h_ank you for the bracelet. It’s so pretty. _

A small fleeting feeling of pride settles in Catra’s heart. Adora likes the gift. She thinks the bracelet is pretty. 

She types back; _ yeah well don’t expect anything else. I’m not made of money you know. _

She gets another _ ping! _ A few seconds later. 

_ I know that! I never expected you to get me anything...Why did you do it, though? _

Catra stares. She doesn’t know how to reply to that. But the question is too direct to avoid it. 

Leaning back in her bed, she texts: _ it’s your birthday. Do I need another reason? _

_ Well, yeah, _ Adora writes back. _ You’ve never sent me a present before. _

Catra frowns. _ I gave you presents all the time _

_ Maybe in high school _ , Adora argues. _ Nothing since then. What’s changed? _

Once again, Catra is stuck. She wrestles with herself, unsure of what to say. Nothing had changed, technically. Catra is still pissed as hell at Adora, but maybe that initial sting has dulled over the years. Maybe the sight of Adora still wearing that stupid camp-made bracelet brought to life a twinge of guilt inside her. Maybe it was none of those reasons, or a combination of several. 

_ Does it matter? _she asks and leaves it at that. 

* * *

Glimmer’s eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees Adora’s bracelet. 

“Catra gave that to you?” she repeats, twisting and turning Adora’s wrist so that the gems glisten in Adora’s bedroom light. “As in, _ ex-childhood friend Catra?” _

“Yes?” Adora says with a wince. “How many other Catras do you know?”

Glimmer purses her lips before releasing her hold. “Hmmm. I don’t know about this…”

Adora rolls her eyes. “Glimmer, it’s a _ bracelet. _What harm could it do?”

Glimmer shrugs, looking entirely unconvinced. “Nothing, technically. But you have to admit it’s weird—Catra flat out ignores you for two years and then suddenly she’s buying you a birthday present? Why would she do that? It doesn’t make sense.”

Memories of Catra’s texts float through Adora’s mind. Her messages had been indirect, dancing around Adora’s questions. They had lacked Catra’s usual hostility and her easy confidence. 

“...I’m not sure,” Adora admits as she frowns at her lap. “And I don’t think she knows, either.”

Glimmer makes a humming sound. “Do you think...maybe…?”

Something twists in Adora’s gut. “I _ really _ don’t know about that.”

Glimmer shrugs. “I’m just saying, Adora! If you were my girlfriend and you had bought your ex-best friend a super expensive bracelet for her birthday...I would be worried.”

Adora’s frown deepens. “You’re reading too much into it.”

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, then!” She pauses, then smiles at Adora. “It _ is _ a really pretty bracelet, though.”

Adora smiles back and gently touches the sparkling gems. “Yeah. It is.”

* * *

Once Catra opens up the floodgates that is texting Adora, she finds it difficult to close it again. 

This isn’t like this the last time they texted, when Adora thanked her for helping out her weird Sparkles friend and they left it at that. No, it’s like their accidental meeting at the Winter Festival had ignited something within them, and now Catra gets almost as many messages from Adora as she does from Scorpia. 

The messages don’t hold anything of significance. They don’t talk about school, they don’t talk about Adora’s friends, they don’t talk about Scorpia. Most of the time it’s just Adora complaining about something random—the endless snow, her mountain of homework, her cat, the snow, how cold it is outside, _ the snow. _

Catra herself only replies a few times a week. She can’t be bothered with Adora, not when she’s attending to Hordak’s every little need or calling Scorpia every other night. She’s exhausted, worn down in a way she hasn’t felt since she started college. She collapses into bed every night and nearly passes out instantly. 

_ Ping! _

...well, almost instantly. 

Catra looks over at her phone. Adora’s face from their graduation lights up her screen, the image causing Catra’s exhaustion to lift just a little. 

She rolls over across the mattress and unlocks her screen to see a selfie of Adora. Only, she doesn’t look like Adora. Her hair is a mess around her shoulders instead of uptight in a ponytail, her blue eyes are bright with mischief and the grin on her face looks wide enough to hurt. She’s covered head to toe in the most random assortment of colors, a violent hue of the rainbow, and the look fits her, oddly enough. 

Catra shakes her head and texts back: _ What happened, you got stuck in a rainbow or something? _

She gets an answer right away: _ haha, very funny. It was the colors festival today, we went to a color run! _

Catra rolls her eyes. Of course Adora would participate in something dumb like that. _ Yeah I could tell. _

_ So? _

_ So, what? _

_ So what do you think? Do I look beautiful? _

Catra snorts, ever as her heart shudders. Adora, beautiful? No way. She types back: _ No, you look stupid. _

_ Not nearly as stupid as you on a regular day _, is the reply she gets back, and Catra can’t help but laugh. 

* * *

“I think I’m getting to her!” Adora says to Mermista right before their tap dance class starts. “I think—I think we might be growing closer again!”

Mermista looks less than thrilled to be having this conversation. “Uhhhh-huh. And why are you telling me all this?”

Adora frowns and scoots to sit closer. “Because! You’re my friend! And, besides, you’ve been in a relationship with Seahawk for a few years now, so…”

Mermista focuses her golden eyes on Adora this time. “Do you _ want _ a relationship with this girl? I thought we told you to drop her.”

Adora feels her cheeks color. “Well, uh, yeah. Yeah, you did. But we started talking to each other again.”

“How did that happen?”

“It was, er, on accident.”

Mermista lets out a longgggg sigh. “Nothing is an ‘accident’, Adora. You think she would be replying to you at all if she didn’t want to talk to you? You think she would have kissed you in freshman year if she didn’t want to?”

“I—I—” Adora’s face is burning scarlet now, “—how did you hear about that? I didn’t even know you, then!”

Mermista shrugs and goes back to stretching. “Seahawk knows everything. Also, you didn’t answer my equation.”

Adora scowls and snatches up her water bottle. She leaves Mermista on the floor while she heads towards the fountain to fill it, but her mind is stuck on their conversation. It’s buzzing with words like _ relationships _ , and _ wants, _ and _ kisses. _It makes Adora’s head hurt. 

But Mermista is right about one thing: Catra never does anything she doesn’t want to. So, what does she want from Adora, now? And what does Adora want with her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/6/2019
> 
> According to the internet, Adora's birthday is January 19th! How sweet of Catra to remember that :3
> 
> Thanks for reading, as always!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	15. Late Spring, Junior Year

Days blend into weeks and weeks blend into months, and then suddenly it’s over halfway through the semester and Catra doesn’t know how it happened. 

Time seems to be moving too fast these days. She feels like it was just yesterday that she ran into Scorpia, lost and frustrated looking for a meeting room. And now Scorpia’s been out of school for almost a whole year. 

“Yes, time does work in strange ways,” Entrapta agrees from behind her mask. “But then again, time is a human construct, it technically should be something we could change to fit our needs—”

“Entrapta,” Catra groans from her familiar spot on the couch. She’s skimming through the cat gifs saved on her phone, determined to send Adora the most obnoxious one she can find. “You’re not making any sense. Again.”

“Oh, right, sorry. What I was trying to say, is that I’m graduating this semester.”

_ That _ wakes Catra the hell up. 

“You’re what?” she asks, quickly sitting up and gaping. 

Entrapta pushes up her mask and beams. “I’m graduating this year. Would you like to come to my ceremony?”

Catra is still caught up in her shock to answer that. “Since when?”

“Since when, what?”

“Since when are you graduating!”

“Oh, well, I delivered my presentation to Hordak and the special counsel for my PhD last week—don’t you remember?”

“Of course I do,” Catra snaps. “I listened to you practice, didn’t I?”

Entrapta nods. “Yes, exactly! Once you pass you graduate the program, and I passed.”

Catra gapes. She knows she should be happy for Entrapta. Her work has finally proven herself, she’s won the title she’s worked so hard for throughout the years. But all she can hear is the ringing in her ears and the shallow breaths in her chest. 

Scorpia and Entrapta will both be gone next year. 

She will be totally alone. And the thought makes her sick enough to throw up. 

* * *

“Hey, Glimmer?”

“Uh-huh?”

“I’m getting a call from an unknown number, should I answer it?”

Glimmer rolls her head off Bow’s shoulder and levels Adora with a Stare. “Adora...why would you answer an unknown caller?”

“Yeah, Adora,” Bow says, typing furiously away at something on his computer. He’s been incredibly stressed all week and pretty much all semester—changing majors from History to Engineering meant he had to catch up and take more classes than anyone in their year, and Adora would be worried for him if she didn’t know how smart Bow is.

Bow continues distractedly, “It’s probably just spam. You don’t need to answer every call.”

“But…” Adora shifts awkwardly on the couch. “But what if it’s someone important?”

Glimmer sighs. “Then they’ll call again. Don’t worry about it.”

“But, what if—oh.” Adora frowns at her screen. “It just went dark.”

“There you go! It _ was _ just spam—”

_ Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz! _

All three of them sit up and look at Adora’s phone. Sure enough, the same number flashes across the screen.

“...soooooo, I guess it’s someone important?” Adora says.

Both of her friends are still staring at the phone. Glimmer says hesitantly, “I guess?”

Adora shrugs and presses the green button. “Hello?” she asks. 

_ “Oh! Uh, hi. Hello.” _

Adora frowns. The voice on the end is full of nervous stammering. It doesn’t sound like someone who would have called her on purpose. 

Glimmer leans closer and whispers, “Who is it?”

Adora mouths _ I don’t know _ , just before the person asks, _ “Adora? This is Adora, right?” _

“How do you know my name?” Adora asks. 

There’s an awkward chuckle. _ “W-Well, you see, I know quite a lot about you—” _

Adora’s frown deepens. Okay, that didn’t sound weird _ at all. _

_ “—I’m Scorpia. You know, Catra’s friend?” _

Adora feels her stomach drop to the floor. Her friends must have seen something on her face, because Glimmer whispers “Adora?” and Bow closes his laptop with a deepening frown. 

“S-Scorpia?” Adora repeats and her friends’ eyes go wide. “As in..._ Catra’s girlfriend, _Scorpia?”

_ “Oh, so, you do know me!” _ Scorpia sighs in relief. _ “That’s good. I was so worried you wouldn’t know who I was and I would have to explain and that would be incredibly awkward if ya know what I mean, haha—” _

Glimmer grapes Adora’s arm. “What does she _ want?” _ she hisses. 

Adora parrots, “Why are you calling me? Is Catra okay?”

There’s a _ slap! _ -ing sound as Bow facepalms. Glimmer looks like she’s in physical pain, but Adora doesn’t have enough time to mouth more than _ what? _ at them before Scorpia is speaking again—

_ “What? No, I mean, yes. Yes, Catra is a-okay. Nothing wrong with her.” _There’s another nervous chuckle. 

“Okay,” Adora says slowly. “Then...did she give you my phone number or something?”

_ “Yes and no? I kind of, um, snuck through her stuff until I found it. I needed to speak with you.” _

Adora might be more concerned about Catra’s girlfriend sneaking through her things if she wasn’t so impressed that Scorpia managed to do it without getting caught. But that can only mean that Scorpia _ really _ wanted to speak to Adora, why else put Catra’s wrath at risk?

Adora glances down at the sparkling bracelet on her wrist and her stomach twists. “Is this about the bracelet?”

_ “Wh-What?” _

“The bracelet Catra got me—”

The sight of Glimmer and Bow waving frantically and shaking there head has Adora stopping in her tracks. She puts a hand over the speaker, “What? What is it?”

“Adora!” Glimmer hisses. “You can’t mention the bracelet to Catra’s girlfriend!”

“Why not?”

“What if she didn’t know about it?” Bow whispers frantically and the blood drains out of Adora’s face. “Do you know how upset she’s going to be hearing that from you?”

Oh. Oh, no. This isn’t good, this is so very _ not good, _and Adora doesn’t know what to say to fix it—

_ “It is about the bracelet, actually.” _

“...oh?” Adora says faintly as Bow and Glimmer stare at her. “Wh-What about it?”

She mouths _ she knows _, and both her friends sag back into the couch pillows. 

_ “I just, uh, I wanted to know your thoughts about it. Or, more specifically, your girlfriend’s thoughts.” _

Adora pulls the phone away from her ear. She gapes at it for a moment, not comprehending. Did she hear Scorpia right?

Bow asks, “What did she say?”

Adora looks at him, still stunned. “She wants to know what my girlfriend thinks about the bracelet.”

Glimmer’s jaw drops. “What—What girlfriend?”

“I don’t know!” Adora puts the phone back to her ear again. Her cheeks feel uncomfortably warm. “I, er, don’t know what you’re talking about? What girlfriend?”

_ “The little one with pink hair?” _Scorpia says and Adora glances sideways at Glimmer.

...Scorpia thinks she’s dating _ Glimmer? _ How did that happen? Adora vaguely remembers wondering if Catra thought she and Glimmer were girlfriends during winter break. Maybe Catra had talked it over with Scorpia or something?

_ “I think her name is Sparkles?” _Scorpia continues in a thoughtful tone

Glimmer turns bright red. “My _ name _ is _ Glimmer!” _

_ “Oh!” _ Scorpia sounds surprised. _ “Is that your girlfriend shouting in the background? She sounds so cute and shout-y.” _

Adora can’t help it, she laughs. “I—I mean, yeah, that’s Glimmer. But we aren’t _ dating. _She’s just my friend.”

“Tell her to tell Catra to get my name right!” Glimmer snarls at Adora’s phone. “It’s not very hard!”

“Okay, let’s calm down now,” Bow says and pulls Glimmer into a hug. Glimmer glares at the phone from over Bow’s arms like it’s personally offended her. 

_ “You’re...You're not together?” _ Scorpia asks. The tone of her voice is crestfallen in a way Adora would never have expected. 

“No?” she says, confused. “Why, do _ you _ want to date Glimmer?”

Glimmer turns even darker. “Adora!”

Adora grins at her friend as she hears sputtering on the other end. _ “Wh-What? Pffft, no, why would I? I mean, I’m sure she’s a wonderful person and all, but I already have—” _

“Catra,” Adora finishes for her, the smile slipping off her face. “You already have Catra.”

_ “Right! Right, I have Catra. Which is why I was... _ surprised _ when she sent you the bracelet.” _

Oh. Ohhhhhh. Adora understands what this is all about now. 

“There’s nothing going on between me and Catra,” she tells Scorpia flat-out. She sees Bow and Glimmer glance at each other from the corner of her eye but ignores them. “Catra...I’m not even sure if she considers us friends. We only started texting again a month or two ago.”

_ “O-Of course there’s nothing going on! I wasn’t accusing you, believe me, I was just…” _

“Worried,” Adora concludes. “It’s okay. I get it.”

_ “Is it okay if I ask you something else?” _

“Um. Sure?”

_ “Has there ever been anything between you two? At all? Like, from before Catra and I started dating?” _

Adora opens her mouth, then closes it. Her heart has suddenly leaped into her throat and her stomach is a mess of knots. 

“Adora?” Bow whispers and Glimmer touches her shoulder gently. “What is it?”

But Adora can’t answer. She just _ can’t _. Because in an instant she’s teleported back to that party during freshman year, the familiar feel of Catra’s hands in hers and those mismatched eyes glowing in the dark. 

She doesn’t know if Catra thinks about that night as often as Adora does. But Adora knows she thinks about it enough that she can’t answer Scorpia. Not without jeopardizing her relationship with Catra. 

So she doesn’t say a word. 

* * *

_ “So, I, uh—” _ Scorpia coughs, _ “—I talked to Adora, the other day.” _

Catra instantly drops the pile of textbooks she’d been pulling out of her closet. They land on her foot and she leaps back with a howl of pain. 

_ “Catra?! Hey, are you okay?” _

Catra ignores her. She collapses onto her bed and spits out a string of curses. She sees Scorpia wince on her computer screen out of the corner of her eye. 

“You—You did _ what?” _Catra pants as the pain starts to subside. 

_ “I...talked to Adora?” _Scorpia repeats and shifts awkwardly on whatever chair she’s sitting on. 

“And why,” Catra asks through gritted teeth. “Would you do that? How did you even find her number?”

_ “I asked Entrapta!” _ She pauses. Catra’s not exactly sure she believes her— _ “Are you really sure you’re okay? You shouldn’t have been carrying all those at once—” _

Catra snaps, “I have to return them to the bookstore today! They’re rented books, and if I can’t find all of them, then I have to pay!”

_ “Ah. Yes, that does make sense.” _

Catra let out a long suffering sigh and pushes herself off the bed. “You didn’t answer my other question, you know.”

_ “Y-Your other question?” _ Scorpia laughs nervously. _ “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” _

“Yes, you do! Don't try to weasel your way out of this conversation, you’re the one who brought it up!”

By the look on Scorpia’s face, she might be regretting bringing this all up. But there is no way in hell Catra is going to let this slide. 

Because—_ Adora _, really? Why would she call Adora of all people?

Scorpia coughs._ “I, uh, was curious! You talk about her a lot, so figured, you know, why not talk to this girl and find out what she’s like?” _

Catra starts to collect her books off the floor, listening intently. She doubts that’s the real reason why Scorpia called Adora. But she also knows that Scorpia will blurt it out anyway as long as Catra just lets her ramble on. 

“And what exactly did you think of her?” Catra asks loudly, slowly transporting the books to her bed and stacking them in neat little piles. She’s going to have to put them all in her backpack, and break her spine in the process, if she’s going to make a single trip to the bookstore…

_ “She’s, well. She’s very nice.” _

Catra rolls her eyes. “Uh-huh. And?”

_ “And, uh. Very honest. Didn’t have a problem at all talking about the bracelet.” _

Catra stiffens. They hadn’t talked about the bracelet. Not since Catra accidentally left it at Scorpia’s place over winter break. Catra hadn’t even mentioned it when she visited Scorpia and took the bracelet back to college with her to be shipped out. What does it mean that Scorpia is still thinking about it?

“...okay,” Catra forces herself to say. Her back is to the camera as she puts the textbooks into her backpack, so she doesn’t have to fake a calm expression. “What else?”

_ “Wh-What else?” _

“Yeah,” Catra says with a grunt. “How long was this conversation of yours anyway? Half an hour?”

Scorpia chuckles._ “Oh, no. Nothing like that. It was maybe ten minutes, max. I think her friends were talking to her at the same time, I kept hearing whispers.” _

Catra bites the inside of her cheek. Adora’s friends...Scorpia probably means the dude who wears a bunch of crop tops and the pink haired girl, Sparkles. 

Catra scowls. How Adora ever got involved with someone like Sparkles is a mystery. Didn’t she find all the fake pastel and cheerful attitude annoying?

_ “—and she kept yelling at me to call her ‘Glimmer’ so I think you got the name wrong. Oh, and, turns out they’re not even dating, so—” _

Catra’s heart leaps into her throat. 

She whirls around to face the computer. _ “What?” _

Scorpia gives her a hesitant grin. _ “I, uh, said her name is Glimmer?” _

_ “No, _after that. You said something about someone not dating. What are you talking about?”

Scorpia’s smile falls and Catra narrows her eyes. This is it. This is what Scorpia has been dancing around since she brought up the topic of Adora. 

_ “Welllll,” _ Scorpia says awkwardly. There’s a tension on her face that rarely shows. _ “So, we were talking about the bracelet, right?” _

“Right. Go on.”

_ “So I asked, because I was curious, how her girlfriend felt about it. Because, again, just curious! And Adora said that, well...that she didn’t have a girlfriend. That she and Glimmer are just friends, and that’s all they’ll ever be.” _

The air seems to leave Catra’s lungs in one _ woosh. _ She lowers herself back into the bed, staring at the screen blankly. 

So...that means Catra had been wrong this whole time? She had tortured herself and gone through Sparkles’ stupid profile a billion times for absolutely no reason?

_ “Hey, Catra? You doing alright?” _

Catra nods vaguely. She feels strange. Her body is buzzing and her breathing has quickened. She curls her fingers into her quilt, willing her legs to stop from bouncing. The knowledge that Adora is single and free shouldn’t affect her so much. Especially considering the fact that she herself isn’t free. 

Catra refocuses on Scorpia. Right. Catra isn’t free—she is with Scorpia. And yet, Scorpia had given her this information on purpose. Why?

“...that still doesn’t answer my original question,” she says slowly and Scorpia blinks. “Why did you call Adora? Did you want to ask her about the bracelet? Or was it something else?”

Scorpia turns a deep shade of red. It’s easy to see how flustered the question makes her, even through the lease of a computer screen. _ “No! I mean, yes? I wanted to ask her about the bracelet...and about her girlfriend.” _

Catra frowns. “Why would you care about whether or not Adora has a girlfriend?”

Scorpia swallows._ “Well, because... _ you _ care.” _

Silence. Then—

“I’m sorry, what?” Catra asks loudly, rising to her feet, and Scorpia wrinkles her nose. “Why—Why would I care what Adora gets up to? I hate her!”

Scorpia shakes her head._ “No, you don’t.” _

Something hot coils in Catra’s chest. “Uh, yes, I do! I’m pretty sure I know my own emotions, thanks.”

_ “If you really hated her, you wouldn’t have bought the bracelet,” _ Scorpia argues back. _ “If you hated her, you wouldn’t be texting her. You wouldn’t have looked her up on Facebook, and you wouldn’t be so hyper focused on every little thing she does.” _ She shakes her head, her white hair falling into her eyes. _ “You don’t hate her, Catra. You can’t. Otherwise you wouldn’t have reacted that way when I told you she wasn’t dating anyone.” _

Catra stays frozen as if her feet are nailed to the ground, staring at Scorpia without a word. She doesn't know what to say to that, or how to react. Scorpia is somehow more in tune to Catra’s emotions than Catra herself. 

“Then you tell me,” Catra says quietly. “How exactly do I see Adora?”

Scorpia hesitates. Catra can hear her heartbeat thudding in her ears, can feel it pounding in her chest. Every part of her is alive as if stung with electricity. She narrows her eyes and waits for Scorpia’s answer. 

_ “...I think,” _ Scorpia says at long last. _ “That is something you need to answer for yourself, Catra. And I think it would be best if we took a break until you get to that answer.” _

Catra’s jaw drops. “Wh-What?”

Scorpia looks back at her solemnly. “_ I think we need to take a break.” _

“You have got to be joking!” Catra says loudly. “This is all because of some—some _ bracelet? _ I told you, it didn’t mean anything!”

_ “I think if you dig a little deeper that you realize it does,” _ Scorpia says hesitantly. There’s a sharp pain in her eyes, the kind that tells Catra she’s one-hundred percent serious. In fact, Catra knows Scorpia cares about her too much to joke about something like this. 

_ “We can still text!” _ Scorpia rushes to say as Catra sits back on her bed, stunned. _ “I—I don’t want to cut you off entirely, Catra! I want this to work. You _ know _ I do. But...I think you need some space to figure this out. That’s all I’m saying.” _

* * *

It happens so quickly that Adora doesn’t have time to blink. 

She’s driving home for the summer in a rented car, singing loudly along to one of Bow’s CDs. Glimmer is next to her—beaming and happy with finals over and the warm late spring breeze blowing through her pink hair. Bow is behind them in the back seat, instructing them with a map spread across his lap and laughing too hard at Adora’s singing to pay attention to the road. 

That’s probably why it happens—none of them are paying attention. They’re too carefree, too relaxed with the promise of summer in the air and their own confectious joy. Adora only has to spend a week home before she’s coming back to Bright Moon for her summer tour guide job and Bow and Glimmer are coming with her. She can’t remember the last time she was this happy. 

The song ends and Bow’s laughter echoes through the car. “Adora, that was _ not _ the right words!”

Glimmer joins in laughing and Adora pouts. “It was too!” she whines. Catra’s bracelet glistens on her wrist in the light of the afternoon sun. “Just because you don’t appreciate good musical talent when you hear it—”

“Hey, I know musical talent! One of my brothers turned out to be a musician, remember?”

Adora rolls her eyes. “Pshhh, yeah, but that doesn’t quality _ you _as a musical expert.”

“I would beg to differ—”

Glimmer suddenly gasps. “Adora! _ Watch out!” _

Adora turns her eyes to the road just in time to see a deer streak across the cement. She slams on the breaks—but the car skids out of control and swerves, the world is a blend of color and she can’t control the wheel—

Adora hears a shrill scream, feels a sharp _ crunch _ of pain across her face, a second blow to her chest, and then everything vanishes into black. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/12/2019
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	16. Summer, Pre-Senior Year

Catra hears about the accident—_Adora’s _accident—the day after it happens. 

“‘llo?” she says grumpily into the speaker when the ringtone goes off at _ way-too-freaking-early _ o’clock in the morning. 

_ “Hello?” _ a vaguely familiar voice responds. Catra frowns, eyes still shut—why does this person sound so familiar? _ “Is—Is this Catra?” _

“Yeah, wha’ do ya want?” she grumbles. “Do you know how early it is—?”

_ “Adora’s hurt,” _ the voice blurts out. Catra’s insides freeze and suddenly she’s wide awake. _ “I—There was an accident when we were driving home. The car was totaled, Adora is in the hospital—” _

“Which hospital?” Catra asks. She’s already out of her bed and throwing on her clothes, not caring if they’re dirty or old. She only distantly realizes she recognizes the voice as that Sparkles girl. The one that _ isn’t _Adora’s girlfriend. 

Sparkles sniffs_ . “The—The one by Crimson Waste Park. But, Catra, she’s okay—she isn’t mortally wounded or anything, she’s just badly hurt—” _

“I’m already out the door, I’ll see you there,” Catra says and hangs up. She’s out the door and in her car a minute later, her hair sticking out in every angle and her heart pounding. 

Adora, hurt. Adora, suffering. What does she look like, how bad are her injuries?

It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Catra needs to get there, now. 

She puts the car into reverse and zooms down the driveway. 

* * *

Adora comes to in short blurs. 

She barely remembers the first few times she wakes up. She sees a vague outline of someone with dark hair, the squares of the ceiling tiles above her. She falls asleep again and awakes what feels like moments later, but now the room is dark. Her body feels warm but stiff and she can barely keep her eyes open. She fades into back again before she can get a word out. Why would she wake up, anyway? It’s peaceful here, sleeping on this bed. 

She’ll wake up soon. But for now, she rests. 

* * *

Catra stares. 

Adora is heavily bandaged, half of her face and jaw covered in a thick white bandage while her arms are wound in hard casts. The visible part of her face is scratched and bruised and unrecognizable. The sight of her laying so still makes Catra’s throat tighten, and for a moment she can’t breathe. 

“It’s okay,” Sparkles whispers. “It looks worse than it is.”

Catra swallows thickly. She decides not to comment on how dower Sparkles looks as she tries to comfort Catra. It looks as though she’s trying to convince herself more than Catra. 

“How bad is it?” Catra asks quietly. 

“...most of it was caused from the airbag,” Sparkles says. “It hit her face dead-on when we collided with the tree. The force broke her nose. All the cuts are from the windshield shattering.”

“And her arms?”

“We think she held them up right before we crashed. They’re both broken, but that’s it. Everything should heal by the end of the summer.”

Catra lets out a long breath. The end of the summer. Three months, and Adora would look back to normal. But for now...Catra can hardly recognize her ex-friend under all the bandages. 

“She’s been sleeping for a while,” Sparkles says and Catra tears away her gaze to look at her instead. Sparkles’ face is also bruised and cut, but not nearly to the extent of Adora’s. She’s got deep circles under her eyes and she keeps rubbing her chest as if she’s hurt there, too. 

Sparkles continues, “They had to put her under when they did the surgery to fix her nose. And she passed out in the car before that. But they think she’ll be up soon, if you’d like to stick around.”

Catra looks back to Adora. The heart machine beeps in the corner, a peaceful reminder that Adora is still alive and not at rest in the ground somewhere. The thought causes a lump to rise in Catra’s throat and it burns. 

She clenches her jaw and blinks rapidly. “I—I’d like that.” She pauses, struggling with what to say. “Thank you. Sparkles.”

The girl rolls her eyes. “It’s _ Glimmer, _ Catra. Do you want me to start calling you Kitty?”

Catra stiffens. “You wouldn’t.”

Glimmer just smiles. “Try me.”

* * *

When Adora finally wakes up for real, she doesn’t recognize her surroundings. 

She blinks up at the ceiling with heavy eyes. Her mouth tastes funny, and her limbs feel too stiff to move. Even her face feels stiff. It takes her a few seconds to realize it’s because she’s covered in bandages—her face, her fingers, her arms. Everything is wrapped up and secure and suddenly her last memory rushes onto her like a slap to the face. 

The road, the deer, the car. All she can remember is that echoing scream and the sharp punch of pain. She doesn’t know what happened after that. 

Adora’s breathing grows quicker and she can distantly hear a beeping sound increasing its tempo. Where is Bow and Glimmer, are they okay? Is she in a hospital, how badly is she hurt? Why does she feel so—?

“Adora! Adora, hey, calm down!”

A familiar face appears in front of her, and then Adora stops breathing altogether. 

Catra is staring back at her, eyes worried and brows drawn. She grabs onto Adora’s hand—well, more like her fingers since that’s the only visible part—and squeezes tightly. 

“You’re okay, Adora,” Catra says very quietly, and Adora’s eyes burn. “You’re okay. Just breathe.”

Adora does as she’s told and sucks in a huge breath. Her throat hurts but she has the feeling that it has more to do with the water welling up in her eyes than her injuries.

“Wh-Where am I?” she croaks out. 

“Crimson Waste hospital,” Catra says automatically.

“How long have I…?”

“Less than a day.”

Adora sniffs. “Bow and Glimmer?”

Catra frowns. “Bruised and scraped, but okay.” She squeezes Adora’s hand again. “You...You got the worst of it.”

Adora closes her eyes and breathes in deeply through her nose. They’re okay. Thank god. She could have never forgiven herself if anything had happened to them. 

“Adora?” Catra asks hesitantly and Adora blinks.”Hey, don’t pass out again. Sparkles and Light Hope will kill me if I end up being the only one to talk to you today.”

Adora’s lip twitches. “They’ve been here the whole time?”

“Duh,” Catra says with a roll of her eyes. They look a little red, a little swollen. But Adora can’t tell if that’s just a trick of the light. “They love you.”

“...and you?” Adora asks carefully and Catra stiffens. “You were here this whole time, too.”

Catra scowls, but doesn’t release her hold on Adora’s hand. “How do you know that?”

Adora tries to shrug, only to realize she literally can’t. So she just says instead, “I can just tell.”

Catra huffs. “That’s such a dumb answer.”

“I’m right, though.”

“Yeah, well...it’s not because I like you or anything. I was just, you know. Concerned. You were wearing my bracelet, I had to make sure you didn’t destroy it or anything.”

Adora grins at that. “Sure.”

Catra scowls. “Listen, _ Adora_, that was an expensive gift!”

“I know it was.”

“You’re so—_ugh.” _

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Catra just glares at her. “You’re an idiot.”

Adora laughs. She knows that already, Catra had always been fond of dishing out insults as a kid. To hear it now is oddly comforting. 

The door opens and Light Hope’s figure appears in the doorway. Her eyes go wide. 

“Adora!” she says and rushes forward. Catra’s hand slips out of hers, and Adora mourns the loss. She wonders if Catra will leave now that she’s awake. 

But she doesn’t. She stays when Bow and Glimmer reappear half an hour later, stays when Adora has to get inspected by the doctor, and only goes home with Bow and Glimmer when nighttime falls. She’s a familiar constant in an unfamiliar place, and Adora couldn’t be more grateful. 

She doesn’t know what will happen when she’s released from the hospital. But she tries not to think about that too much. 

* * *

Catra spends a lot more time with Adora’s friends from that point on. They talk in the hospital room, get lunch together, text whenever one of them is missing from Adora’s hospital room. Catra saves Glimmer’s contact name as “✨Sparkles✨’ and nearly gets thrown out of the room for it. The boy—who Catra now knows as Bow—seems to find it all pretty funny, though. 

Bow had escaped from the accident missing any injuries. He was the one to call the cops for help, he was also the one to convince Glimmer to call Catra when they got to the hospital. 

“Why’d you bother?” Catra asks him quietly one day. Adora is sleeping peacefully, the bandages from her face now removed except for a single strip across her realigned nose. Glimmer left in search of coffee five minutes ago and will probably come back with something extra strong and equally sweet. 

Bow frowns at her. “Why’d I do what?”

“Call me. You two didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh.” Bow looks back at Adora, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Well, I thought you’d want to know. You care about Adora, too.”

Catra’s stomach does a little flip. “H-How would you know that? I haven’t talked to her in years.”

“You got her the bracelet,” Bow points out. “You wouldn’t have done that, if you didn’t care about her.”

Catra glances to the bedside table. Adora’s bracelet had somehow miraculously survived the accident without breaking, though the doctors recommend she wait until leaving the hospital to try putting it on again. It shines brightly in the hospital lights, as if winking at Catra. 

She swallows. She hears Scorpia’s voice echoing in her head—_if you really hated her, you wouldn’t have bought the bracelet _—and bites down on her bottom lip. Bow’s statement is oddly similar to Scorpia’s. It makes Catra wonder if other people see something between her and Adora that she’s been struggling to grasp for years. 

* * *

Adora leaves the hospital on a bright sunny day. She gets into Ms. Hope’s car just fine, maneuvers her way through the house and into her bed without an issue. But when night falls and Adora is left alone with nothing but her own thoughts...the guilt starts to overwhelm her. 

She stares up at the ceiling in the dark, eyes burning and a horrible crushing feeling eating her out from the inside. Because—the accident, it’s _ all her fault. _If she hadn’t been distracted, she'd been traveling slower, if she had reacted sooner, none of this would have happened. 

Even worse: what if it had happened the exact same way, and Bow and Glimmer were—were—

_ “Adora!” _ Glimmer says, voice full of raw pain when Adora calls her. _ “Adora, please, don’t—just wait, okay, me and Bow are coming over—” _

Adora’s heart stops. “W-Wait, no, you don’t have to do that.”

_ “You can’t stop me! I’ll see you in a few.” _

She hangs up and Adora gapes at her phone. 

Sure enough, Bow and Glimmer sneak into Adora’s house not even ten minutes later. Adora knows their hotel is only a short drive, but she suspects they might have sped a little to get her so quick. 

“Adora!” Bow whispers and rushes over to hug her. Glimmer quietly shuts the door before joining them. They both hug Adora as tightly as they can, mindful of her injuries. Bow’s hand starts petting her hair and Glimmers is rubbing her back, and Adora squeezes her eyes shut, willing the tears to vanish in the night. 

“Adora,” Glimmer starts. “It’s not your fault. Okay? None of this was ever your fault.”

Adora lets out a quiet sob. “B-But, I’m the driver, I should have—should have b-been more careful—”

Bow shakes his head and pulls back. “You were already driving careful! What happened was a total accident. You couldn’t control the deer jumping out into our path, right?”

Adora feels her lip tremble. “But…”

“No, buts!” Glimmer says firmly. She wipes away the tears on Adora’s cheek and gives her a wobbly smile. Her violet eyes look unnaturally bright even in the darkness. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Adora. It’s just as Bow said: it was an _ accident. _You can’t control everything. Besides, me and Bow should have been paying more attention, too. You’re not to blame.”

The choking feeling is worse, now. Adora closes her eyes and sees Bow and Glimmer on hospital beds, sometimes lifeless, sometimes not. They say she’s not to blame, but what if something had happened to them? Would Adora have ever been able to forgive herself?

Bow whispers, “Adora, what is it?”

Adora shakes her head and Glimmer squeezes her hand. “Please, Adora. We want to help you.”

“I…” Adora sniffs. “I. I know, b-but. But what if either of you had gotten hurt? What if you died? I don’t—I couldn’t live with myself if—if I was the one—”

Two warm hands grab her shoulders. Adora blinks and looks up to see Glimmer glaring at her. 

“Adora, stop. Stop right now. Don’t you dare let yourself think like that! You didn’t mean to hurt us, and you didn’t! You can’t start thinking about ‘what if’s and ‘but’s—it’ll drive you crazy. My mom did that when Dad died in his accident, and it nearly drove her crazy. So _ don’t do it.” _

Adora stares, her breathing starting to slow. She is so surprised by Glimmer’s order that she can’t think of a single thing to say. Glimmer never talks about her dad, the fact that she’s doing it now is...

“She’s right,” Bow says and Adora looks to him. “Nothing life changing happened. We’re all safe, we’re all okay. We just...have to be more careful. And if we learn to be better drivers out of this, then that’s a good thing.”

Adora looks back and forth between them. Glimmer is still stern-faced and bright-eyed, Bow is smiling gently. Fondness for them both rises in Adora like a tidal wave and tears well up in her eyes again before she can pull them back. 

“I love you guys so much,” she croaks out. They both hug her again, squeezing as tightly as they could. 

“We love you too, Adora,” Bow says and Glimmer nods. “So, so, so much.”

* * *

“—this is from someone called, uh.” Catra squints at the name, not entirely sure she’s reading it right. “Mer-Mermista? Is that right? How is that even a name?”

“Oh, please,” Adora scoffs from the other side of the room. “Your name is _ Catra. _You can’t exactly talk.”

Catra scowls and starts ripping open the envelope with a grumble. It’s still a dumb name, as far as she’s concerned. Who seriously looked at a baby girl and was like, wow, you know, she looks like a _ Mermista. _Seriously, no one did that!

“Her parents probably watched a lot of The Little Mermaid,” Catra says. That gets a loud bark of laughter from Adora and Catra grins. 

It’s been over a month since the accident. Adora’s friends had left to go back to their families for the summer, as they had originally planned before the car crashed. They still send Catra daily texts asking about Adora, though. It’s kind of annoying actually—do they not trust her to take care of her childhood friend or something?

And in the meantime, Catra is stuck reading Adora’s get well cards to her. 

“Okayyyy,” she says as she finally opens the card. “It says: _ feel better, glad you didn’t die. That would have totally sucked. Mermista.” _Catra frowns. “I can’t tell if she’s being serious or not.”

“She is,” Adora says cheerfully. “Mermista isn’t exactly a touchy-feely person.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“Maybe you’ll meet her one day!”

Catra snorts and puts the card on top of the ‘read’ pile with all the other opened letters. The pile is growing to an almost impressive size. How did Adora know all these people? “Doubt it. Didn’t you say she and that flower girl graduated last year?”

Adora’s face fell. “Oh, yeah. I totally forgot about that. It’ll be lonely this year without Mermista, Perfuma and Seahawk around…”

Catra stays quiet. She thinks of Entrapta and Scorpia, how they’ve both graduated and left her alone at Horde Community. She thinks of Adora, and how easily that accident could have snuffed her life out for good. And then Catra would have been truly alone, with nothing but regret and sorrow and no one to talk it out with. She definitely wouldn’t be sitting on Adora’s bedroom floor, a pile of letters around her feet. 

“...what if it isn’t a lonely year?” Catra says carefully. Her heart starts to race as she looks up at Adora, who is sitting comfortably on her bed and surrounded by pillows. 

Adora tilts her head. “What do you mean? Honestly, some quiet might be good after this summer—”

“That’s not what I meant,” Catra cuts her off. “I—I mean...what if someone new joined your school. To make it less lonely.”

Adora’s eyes grow wide. She stares at Catra for so long that Catra starts to worry she’s going into shock. 

“You—You mean?” Adora starts. There’s a small smile spreading across her face, growing larger and larger until it looks painful. Catra can’t remember the last time she saw Adora look at her that way, and it steals the air right out of her lungs.

Catra says breathlessly, “M-Mean what?”

“You want to come with me?” Adora asks. Her cheeks are growing red and her blue eyes sparkle. She looks happy enough that she might explode from it. “You want to apply to Bright Moon?”

Catra coughs. There’s an uncomfortable warmth crawling up the back of her neck as she says, “Well, I m-might have already...applied…”

Adora _ shrieks_. “Catra! Oh my god—”

She starts to scramble off her bed and Catra is instantly on her feet. She pushes Adora back into the mattress firmly, ignoring the way Adora struggles. 

“Stay down, you idiot!” she hisses. “Do you want to break your legs, too?”

But Adora is too busy beaming at her to listen. “I can’t believe this! Catra Weaver, applying to Bright Moon? All by yourself? Who are you and what did you do with the real Catra?”

Catra rolls her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, Adora.”

Her childhood friend grins broadly. “Hey, this is a big deal! I never thought I’d see the day, especially after you cut off my bracelet for choosing to go there.”

Guilt twists Catra’s stomach into knots. She can still feel the raw pain and betrayal from that day, the fierce anger and hurt. But it feels like and echo from a lifetime ago. Seeing Adora lifeless on the hospital bed...it changed Catra’s perspective on things. 

“Why’d you even apply, huh?” Adora asks. She pushes herself into sitting position and Catra folds her arms as Adora leans into her space. “Don’t tell me you _ like _ me or something.”

Catra really does turn red, then. “In your dreams!” she says and pushes Adora back down. Adora falls back with a laugh, still smiling like Catra’s made her whole summer with her application alone. 

And knowing Adora, it’s probably not too far from the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/20/2019
> 
> Hope I didn't torment too many people with that last cliffhanger haha. Only a few more chapters left to this story! But at least Catra and Adora are slowly growing close again~
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	17. Fall, Senior Year

The start of Adora’s final year at Bright Moon is hard. 

She moves back into her apartment with Bow and Glimmer, all three of them give Catra a private tour of campus, and they eat dinner together like old friends. It’s heartwarming to see Catra joke and roll her eyes in a place Adora so often thought about her. She knows this year is going to be wildly different than she imagined, and she couldn’t be happier. 

But then she goes to bed and she dreams a tree sprouts in in the middle of the road. The car she’s driving crashes straight into it and she wakes up with a scream dying on her lips. Glimmer is there seconds later, dressed in her pjs and white as a ghost. She takes one look at Adora and wraps her in a bone-breaking hug as Adora cries silently into her arms. 

The flashbacks happen randomly. She can’t control when she gets them, or how. They come to her in dreams, when she’s crossing the road, at the sound of a loud _ BANG. _It’s disturbing and horrifying in every possible way, and it distracts her enough to make her grades suffer. 

Glimmer tells her it gets better—her mom went through the same thing when her dad died, and eventually the flashbacks stop coming. Adora is sure they will, but she’s not sure _ when _. She’s never experienced this before. It’s the first enemy she can’t physically fight, and that more than anything scares her. 

* * *

“—the casts are off, but Adora’s still getting flashbacks,” Catra tells her phone as she slowly walks around the Bright Moon campus. The grounds are very well kept here, much more so than it ever was in the Horde. It still amazes her that flowers _ grow _ here. 

_ “Is that not a normal thing?” _ Scorpia asks her. _ “I mean, that was a pretty traumatic event. She’s probably still processing what happened.” _

Catra sighs. “Yeah, I guess so. It just sucks. I don’t think she’s slept well since she got back.”

_ “I’m sure she’ll get better in time. And you—you sound happier though then you were at Horde! Do you actually like Bright Moon?” _

Catra wrinkles her nose and groans. “You’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you.”

There’s the sound of laughter. _ “Well, I think it might do you some good to admit you’re wrong every once and awhile, Catra—” _

“I wasn’t wrong!” Catra says shrilly. Some students walking by give her a scared look and she hisses at them. They scramble away and Scorpia’s laughter is louder than ever. 

She turns her attention back to the phone. “Hey, stop laughing at me! If I hadn’t gone to the Horde, I would have never met you or Entrapta. So I would say I was actually _ right, _thank you very much.”

Scorpia is still wheezing. “_ Y-You’re right in that regard...does that mean you’ve made your decision?” _

Catra slows to a crawl. “What decision?” she asks carefully. 

_ “About us.” _

Scorpia’s voice is calm and considerate, now. She’s waited months for this without ever once pushing Catra for an answer and guilt claws its way up Catra’s throat. Is it wrong of her to have hoped Scorpia would forget about their conversation at the end of last school year? Not much had changed between them during their time ‘apart’—they’d talked like usual, texted like usual. It felt like how their relationship normal was, just without the kissing. 

...and maybe that’s the answer. Catra hasn’t missed being romantic with Scorpia. But she knows she would miss the other woman’s company, her advice and enthusiastic ideas. She would miss Scorpia as a friend without a doubt. 

But as a _ girlfriend...? _

_ “Catra?” _ Scorpia says and Catra squeezes the phone until it creaks under the pressure. 

She shuts her eyes. “I...I don’t want to stop talking to you. You’re my friend.”

_ “Oh, Catra,” _ Scorpia sighs and Catra’s throat burns. _ “I would never stop talking to you. You’re my wildcat, you know?” _

Catra swallows thickly and turns around the corner of a building to see a large plane is grass scattered with lazy students. Immediately her eyes are drawn to the center of the field, to three familiar figures laying out on a large towel. Glimmer is stretching, her pink hair in a messy bun and her wings tattoo peeking out between her tank top. Bow holds up a book to her and Glimmer leans across the third figure to get a look at it. 

Adora is the one laying down between Bow and Glimmer, Catra knows. She’s probably napping, trying her best to catch up on what little rest she gets these days. Just the thought of seeing her makes Catra’s heart beat a little bit faster. 

“Are—Are you sure?” Catra asks even as she starts heading towards the trio. Bow spots her first and waves enthusiastically. 

_ “Of course I’m sure. I’m just happy to know you’re happy.” _

Catra smiles despite the way her heart aches and sets a foot onto the field. 

“Thank you, Scorpia.”

* * *

“I quit,” Adora says, emotionless. “I give up. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

There’s a loud sigh behind her. “Adora,” Bow says patiently. “This is your last midterm season of your last Fall Semester at Bright Moon. You _ have _ to study.”

“I could just pack up my bags and go,” Adora continues as she stares blankly out at the kitchen wall. “No one would ever know.”

_ “We _ would know!” Glimmer shouts from her room. “Just suck it up and study already!”

Adora groans loudly. “But I don’t _ want _ to!”

Catra snickers and Adora glares at her. The other college student grins as she sits perched on the edge of the kitchen counter. She looks so smug that Adora briefly considers pushing her onto the floor, if only to see the shock on her face. 

“How have you survived being a Bright Moon student this long if your friends have to convince you to study?” Catra asks, eyes gleaming. “Aren’t you _ She-Ra? _ I thought you were the golden student and everything.”

Adora makes a swipe at Catra but she just leans out of the way with a laugh. “Even She-Ra can have lazy days, Catra!”

Glimmer sticks her head out of her room, violet eyes narrowed. “Not when she has midterms next week, she doesn’t!”

“How ‘bout this?” Catra suggests, cutting off Adora’s loud whine of protest “I _ bribe _ you into studying. That way you’ll get some sort of payoff.”

Adora refocuses on Catra, frowning. Catra just pops another sweetish fish into her mouth with a happy hum and glittering mismatched eyes. 

“What, you scared, Princess?”

“No,” Adora says instantly. “I’m just curious what this ‘payoff’ might be.”

“Easy. It’s candy.” Catra holds up the bag of sweetish fish with a little shake. “You always used to steal these from me when we were kids. I assume that hasn’t changed.”

Adora’s eyes the candy, trying to not let her yearning show. It’s been so long since she’s had a sweetish fish. Bow likes to keep the kitchen stocked with healthy snacks, which isn’t bad on a normal day, but sometimes Adora just wants to be fat and stuff her face with junk food. 

Catra leans closer. “What do you say?” she purrs. She touches a stray lock of Adora’s hair, running her fingers through it. The touch makes Adora’s breath catch in her throat, but Catra pulls away again before she can do much more than stare. 

Catra had been more touchy lately, Adora has noticed. She’s not sure why or exactly when the change occurred. It’s not that she minds per say, they used to hang off each other when they were kids all the time after all.

But this feels different. This is deliberate, full of intent, and Adora is still trying to understand what it means. 

“...you’re on,” she says after a pause and Catra grins. 

_ “Awesome. _Give me your study guide, I’m not going to make this easy on you.”

* * *

“—sure you’re gonna be okay here on your own?” a familiar voice asks and Catra pauses. Sure enough, shuffling right by her bench in the opposite direction are the one and only Best Friends Squad with Adora at its head. 

Bow continues, “That’s a long time to be alone, Adora.”

Catra watches as Adora throws back her head with a loud groan. “Yes, Bow! I’ll be totally fine! You guys worry too much, you’re starting to sound like Ms. Hope.”

“We’re just concerned about you!” Glimmer says, pouting. Their voices are growing quieter as they travel away from Catra and she quickly picks up her backpack to chase after them. She makes sure to keep a good distance, just close enough to hear them talking. 

“—no reason to be concerned,” Adora is saying as Catra comes back within hearing range. Her blonde hair is swinging back and forth in the chilly winter air, a beacon of gold against the grey surroundings. “I’ll be totally safe here, it’s not like there’s anyone around campus during break.”

Bow and Glimmer look at each other with pained expressions. Bow says, “But that’s the point—won’t you be lonely? You’re more than welcome to come home with me.”

“Or me!” Glimmer pipes up. 

Adora sighs. “Guys, _ really. _I’ll be fine—”

_ Rrrrrriiiiiiiing! _

Bow jumps and Glimmer curses. Catra laughs quietly as the pair bid hasty goodbyes to Adora and rush off to their classes. Those two are a riot. Her gaze drifts back to Adora, who now stands in front of the study hall, shivering all alone and clutching her backpack. 

Catra licks her lips and takes a hesitant step forward. Is Adora really spending winter break alone?

“Hey, Adora,” she says casually. 

Adora stiffens and spins around, her blonde hair flying. Her expression melts into a smile as she sees Catra and something warm bursts into life in Catra’s chest. 

“Catra,” Adora sighs and walks forward to meet her. “What are you doing here? I thought you had Advanced Economics?”

Catra shrugs. “It was cancelled. We had our final last class, so there’s no point in meeting now.” She pauses. “Is it true you’re spending winter break here?”

“Oh...you heard that, huh?” 

Catra nods and Adora rubs the side of her arm, glancing off towards the side. Her nose and ears are red from the cold, a pretty dusting of pink on pale skin. 

“Why would you do that?” Catra asks curiously. “Doesn’t Light Hope want to see you?”

Adora shrugs half heartedly. “Oh, she does. I just...don’t want to drive home again. So.”

She shifts awkwardly. There’s a pang of sympathy in Catra’s heart. Not a day passes when she doesn’t think of Adora laying still and immobile in that hospital room. She’s sure it’s the same for Adora. 

“Well, you know,” Catra says and Adora looks at her with those ridiculously blue eyes. “I’m staying here, too.”

Hope flickers across Adora’s face. “Really? But, Ms. Weaver—”

“Oh, please.” Catra waves her hand with a roll of her eyes. “You and I both know the less I see her, the better. She’s still pretty pissed at me for letting go of my free ride at the Horde, anyway. It’s better I avoid her for now.”

A grin is starting to stretch across Adora’s face. “Are you sure? I could always ask Bow and Glimmer if they’d be okay with you staying over our place.”

Catra blinks. She hadn’t been expecting that. But, if she got to spend all winter break with Adora—

“I would love that,” she says and Adora _ beams. _It’s kind of blinding, actually. “You...wouldn’t mind it?”

“Catra, I wouldn’t ask if I minded. You’re my friend! It’s better to spend break with you than anyone else.”

Something flutters and swoops in Catra’s chest. She doesn’t have time to figure out what it means though, because Adora is weaving her arm through hers and starts pulling her along towards the Starbucks shop on campus. 

“C’mon!” she says cheerfully, oblivious to Catra’s flustered blush. “Let’s go get hot chocolate or something, it’s freezing out here!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/27/2019
> 
> Thank you to all the sweet comments I've gotten on this fic lately! ^-^ it means a lot to know that pple are enjoying this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it~
> 
> Happy Halloween to those who celebrate! I'll post the next chapter next weekend.
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	18. Winter, Senior Year

Letting Catra stay over her apartment for the entirety of winter break is an exciting but ultimately nerve-wracking experience. 

“I don’t get it,” Glimmer says the night before break starts. She should be packing, but instead she’s watching Adora run around her bedroom like a chicken with its head cut off. “Catra practically lived with you during the summer after your accident, right? How is this any different?”

“I don’t know!” Adora groans, half hidden in her closet as she attempts to pull out a sleeping bag and extra pillows. And, really, she doesn’t. But this _ feels _ different somehow. It feels bigger. 

She finally yanks out the pillows she’s been tugging at for the past ten minutes and turns to face Glimmer, breathing heavy. Glimmer leaps off Adora’s desk chair to help her and together they dump the pillows onto Adora’s bed. 

“I—I feel like—” Adora takes a deep breath, “—I feel like Catra was mostly staying with me back then because I was hurt?”

Glimmer raises her eyebrows. “You think she was there out of obligation and guilt, you mean.”

Adora nods, stomach twisting, and Glimmer sighs. “Adora,” she starts and places a hand on her shoulder. “You know I love you.”

“Uh...yeah?”

“Good. Because you can be a little dense sometimes.”

Glimmer turns away and Adora sputters. “Wh-What! I am _ not—” _

“Yes, you are!” Glimmer whirls around again and puts her hands on her hips. “Listen, Catra might have come to the _ hospital _ out of obligation, but she had no reason to stay with you! She didn’t need to give me and Bow daily updates on how you were doing. She didn’t have to apply to Bright Moon or transfer here or spend all Fall semester hanging out with us.” 

She shakes her head. “If Catra spent all that time with you, it’s because she _ wanted _ to. Okay? Besides, isn’t that what you want too? You’ve always wanted to make up with her. Now’s your chance.”

Adora looks down at her carpet. Her heart is doing strange little cartwheels, racing and swooping and diving like a bird soaring through the air. She doesn’t think this is exactly how someone should feel when thinking about their (best?) friend. But Catra has always affected her differently than everyone else. Time hadn’t changed anything in that regard. 

A warm hand takes hers. Adora looks up to see Glimmer smiling softly at her. 

“C’mon,” she says and tugs Adora forward. “Let’s finish this.”

Adora stumbles, letting Glimmer lead her. “What about your packing? It’s almost midnight, and your mom said she’s picking you up at six in the morning!”

Glimmer waves her free hand. “Pshhh, don’t worry about it! You can help me once we finish.”

Adora groans. It’s gonna be a long night. 

* * *

Catra has been hanging out with Adora and her friends since the accident. She spends more days at their apartment than in her own place even though it’s on campus and way closer to her classes. She can count every single one of Glimmer’s weird sparkle morning routines, knows the name of Bow’s final robotics project and even chips in with her own money to buy food for the week. 

But there’s still _ one thing _ in the apartment she doesn’t vibe well with. 

“...I think your cat hates me,” Catra says flatly. 

“What?” Adora frowns at her from the opposite end of the couch. “Don’t be silly, Swift Wind is very friendly!”

Catra eyes the ball of white fluff in Adora’s lap distastefully. ‘Friendly’ is not a word with which she would describe Adora’s cat. ‘Needy’ or ‘obnoxious’ would be way more accurate for labeling Swift Wind. 

She folds her arms and grumbles, “I still can’t believe you named him that.”

Adora shrugs and turns her attention back to her cat. Swift Wind purrs loudly and nudges her hand with his head insistently. 

“We started calling him that because of a joke,” Adora says absent-mindedly. “We didn’t mean to keep it, but he just wouldn’t reply to anything else. So Swift Wind he is.”

Catra tries not to scowl. Glimmer and Bow have long since gone off home—Bow to whatever mansion in the woods he keeps talking about and Glimmer off towards the big city where her mom resides as mayor. It’s just her and Adora alone in this apartment now, with Catra taking up the pull out couch for sleeping and Adora giving her extra pillows and blankets to make her even more comfortable. 

And it is comfortable. More than that—it’s incredibly nice to have some one-on-one time with Adora that’s not filled with studying or stressing over their classes. Catra hasn’t been this alone with Adora since after the accident, and even though it’s not really different from any other time they’ve hung out...it _ feels _ different. The air is somehow charged. There’s a tense _ something _ between them and Catra doesn’t know what it is. 

So she focuses her restless energy on glaring at Adora’s stupid cat instead. 

Swift Wind turns his head, as if sensing her murderous stare, and catches sight of Catra. He hisses quietly and digs his claws into Adora’s t-shirt. 

Catra narrows her eyes. Swift Wind clearly doesn’t want Catra to stay here any longer. But she isn’t about to give into the whims of a _ cat. _

“Well, his dumb name doesn’t change the fact he doesn’t like me,” Catra growls. “He’s still hissing at me, look!”

Adora laughs and the sound makes Catra’s heart flutter. “He’s like that with everyone! You wouldn’t believe how long it took him to warm up to Bow and Glimmer.”

“So, you’re saying he only likes you?”

“Heh, well…” Adora busies herself with removing Swift Wind from her shirt. He yowls in protest and Catra raises her eyebrows. 

Yep. He most definitely only likes Adora. 

“Alright, alright, jeez!” Adora releases Swift Wind and the cat immediately goes back to snuggling her. She sighs before giving Catra a guilty look. “I’m sorry about this. He can get a little clingy sometimes.”

“I can tell,” Catra says. It’s kind of frustrating, actually. Every time she tries to get closer to Adora that cat is there, scrambling into Adora’s lap and howling for love. It’s like the thing is trying on purpose to suck up all of Adora’s attention and it’s driving Catra _ crazy. _ They could be watching a movie on her laptop or sharing a blanket or—or _ something. _But, nope, Adora’s cat gets preference over Catra herself. 

“I’m sure he’ll calm down soon,” Adora reassures her with a smile. “He usually falls asleep after a few minutes of petting and then we can put on a movie and eat that leftover Chinese food. Sound good?”

Catra sighs and leans back into the couch. “Okay. But I get to pick the movie this time.”

Is she jealous of a cat? Before today, Catra would have said no. Because that is _ ridiculous_. But now…

Catra glowers as Swift Wind’s purring grows louder. But now, she would have to say she is. 

* * *

There’s a strange tension in the air, now that Catra is staying in the apartment with her.

Adora doesn’t know what it is, or how to even put a name to it. It doesn’t stop them from laughing over breakfast cereal, or scrolling through their phones in comfortable silence, or saying goodnight before going to bed. It’s just...there. And after a while, Adora starts to wonder if maybe that strange ‘tension’ has always been there.

But what is it? And why is she only noticing now?

It takes her halfway through break to figure it out. It’s only when she’s in the middle of lifting weights, thinking about Catra and their past and how different they are now, that she realizes just what it is.

_ BANG! _

Adora slams the apartment door open and Catra jumps so hard she falls off the kitchen counter stool. 

“Hey!” Catra snaps at Adora as she picks herself off the floor. “What do you think you’re doing—you scared me!”

Swift Wind appears out of nowhere, meowing as he streaks towards Adora. But Adora pays him no mind and gently pushes him to the side. She can’t pet him now, not when she’s so focused on the task at hand.

“We need to talk,” she says to Catra bluntly and shuts the door behind her.

Catra blinks at her. Once, then twice. “Uhhh…_why? _ Did I do something wrong?”

“Wha—no!”

“Well, you’re making it _ sound _like I did something wrong.”

Adora rolls her eyes. “Catra, focus! I think...I think we need to talk.”

“Talk about what?”

“Talk about..._that.” _

Catra gives her an unimpressed glare. “Yeah, because that’s_ so _ specific, Adora.”

Adora huffs and dumps her gym back on the floor. She strides over to Catra, saying with each step, “We need to talk about when I left for college. About when you broke the bracelet.”

Catra stills, all color draining from her face. She’s so stiff she might as well be a block of stone, and Adora frowns when she notices Catra’s not breathing. Did she go into shock?

“Uh. Catra—?”

“Why—” Catra sucks in a deep, shuddering breath, “—would you want to talk about that? It’s over, isn’t it? Why can’t we just shove it under the rug and pretend it never happened?”

Adora’s frown deepens. She’s all too familiar with Catra’s habit of running away from things she’s scared about. She knows Catra, inside and out. But Adora needs this closure. If they want to continue being friends—_ real _ friends—then they _ both _need this.

“No,” she says and firmly grasps Catra by the shoulders. Catra tenses, but she doesn’t push Adora away despite her looking like she would rather be anywhere else, and Adora counts that as something of a victory. “Catra...is this what you want? Us being friends, I mean. Because if you do, we need to talk about it. I don’t want to hurt you like that again.”

She pauses. The unspoken words of_ 'and I don’t want to be hurt by you again, either’ _ hang in the air between them, heavy enough to be palpable.

Seconds pass. Catra looks like she’s struggling with herself—her lips are pursed, her hands are curled into tight fists, her cheeks are dusted a deep red. But then she looks up at meets Adora’s gaze dead on. Adora doesn’t flinch from her mismatched stare, doesn’t look away no matter how those eyes make her heart leap into her throat. She knows this is the right path. This is something they have to face together. 

If Catra wants this, she’ll stay. If not, she’ll leave, and they’ll be right back where they started. 

For a breathless moment, Adora thinks Catra might wrench herself out of Adora’s grasp and turn away. But instead she seems to wilt on herself, shoulders slumping and eyes glancing away from Adora’s. 

“Fine,” she grumbles and hope flickers in Adora’s chest like a flame. “We’ll talk, or whatever, if you’re going to be so insistent about it...but I have one condition.”

Adora squeezes Catra’s shoulders, “What is it? I’ll do anything you want!”

Catra’s lips twitch. “Go take a shower. You _ reek.” _

* * *

The talk is long and hard and, frankly, exhausting. Catra loses her voice from shouting and Adora’s blue eyes well up with tears more than Catra would have liked. 

But, in the end, Adora is right. This is important for them, as much as Catra would have loved to put a blindfold over her eyes and continue existing in ignorant bliss for the rest of her life. She understands Adora better now than she did before. And Adora—

_ Adora never wanted to hurt her. She wanted Catra to come with her to Bright Moon, but Catra’s dismissal when she’d first brought it up had hurt her. She thought Catra didn’t care, so she never mentioned it again. _

_ “I didn’t even know if I was going to get in,” Adora tells her, hands wringing in her lap. Catra’s heart is aching and twisting and hurting in ways she’s never felt before, and she doesn’t know what it means. Why does she always _ feel _ so much when it comes to Adora? _

_ Adora looks at Catra, then. Her next words are so true that Catra can’t deny them, “I—I thought it was a pipe dream, really. I never thought I would get She Ra, of all things. That’s why I didn’t bring it up again. You have to believe me: I never wanted to leave you behind.” _

—and Adora knows her, too. She knows that Catra didn’t stop thinking about the friendship bracelet she’d broken for years. That Catra was angry and hurt and lashed out that summer before college to make Adora hurt, too. It doesn’t excuse Catra’s actions, and they both know it, but it puts a reason to them at least. 

Adora should have been more vocal, Catra shouldn’t have lashed out. It’s a truth they’ve both known for a while, even though thinking about it and accepting her own part in their fall out leaves a sour taste of denial on Catra’s tongue. Part of her still can’t believe she was wrong. She was giving equal justice to the pain she’d been felt. 

...but the glistening of Adora’s eyes make those inner voices tremble and shake. Seeing the hurt her own actions caused Adora gives rise to a wave of shame. She’s cared too much about Adora to ever really want to hurt her. Maybe this whole time she just wanted Adora to understand her pain, and now…

And now she does. And Catra understands Adora’s.

* * *

They end up drinking. Because after crying and shouting and feeling like your chest has been split open, a little drinking can’t exactly hurt. 

Catra chooses brandy and laughs in her face when Adora pulls out a spiked lemonade drink. 

“You _ would _ pick a flowery drink like that,” she teases with sparkling eyes and Adora feels her face prickle with a blush. 

“Shut up,” she grumbles, grinning despite herself, and pushes Catra into the counter. 

The drink is good, no matter what Catra says. And so is the second drink, and the third, and the fourth, until Adora finds her head in Catra’s lap with her ponytail undone and Catra’s fingers running lightly through her hair. 

Adora hums as Catra moves a lock of dirty blonde hair out of her face. Everything feels warm and soft. Her limbs are heavy and her head is floating. Catra smells good, feels good, _ is _ good. She doesn’t want to lose her again. 

She hears Catra laugh quietly as she snuggles closer, wrapping her arms around Catra’s waist. “You’re like a cat,” her friend says, slurring a little bit not nearly as much as Adora has been. 

Adora giggles and peaks up at Catra with fluttering eyelashes._ “Yer _ the cat, Cat-ra. Oh!” She giggles harder and Catra raises an eyebrow at her. “M-Maybe _ you _ can be She Ra, too. But instead you’ll just be known as Cat-Ra”

“God, shut up.” Catra squishes Adora’s cheeks together, but she’s smiling wide enough to make her eyes crinkle. It makes Adora’s heart flutter to see her this happy. “I forgot how dumb you are when you’re drunk.”

“M’Not _ drunk,” _ Adora whines as she pries Catra’s fingers off her face. “I’ve only had like—like two drinks—”

“No, try again.”

Adora wrinkles her nose. It’s _ so hard _ to focus when Catra’s pretty face is swimming in front of hers. “One?”

Catra shakes her head, snickering. “You’ve had _ four _ drinks, Adora. Four.”

Adora gasps. “Fourrrr? But that’s—” she lowers her voice into a whisper, _ “—so many.” _

“Oh, trust me, I am aware. You’re way more wasted than you were at that party—”

“The p-party where we, uhhh, made out?”

Adora wiggles her eyebrows at the now-frozen Catra. The other girl is staring at her like a deer in headlights, and Adora might be more concerned if she didn’t feel so _ light _ and _ giddy _right now. 

Catra swallows heavily and leans back into the couch. “You remember that?”

Adora grins. “On’y bits an’ pieces. You left marks, though.”

The amount of red that colors Catra’s face is actually hysterical. Adora giggles and pokes Catra’s warm cheek with a finger. “Oooooh, you should see your face, you look like a tomato right now—”

Catra slaps Adora’s hand with a growl. “Don’t poke me, Adora.”

Adora doesn’t pay attention though. Why would she, when her friend is wearing such an adorable expression? She really can’t help herself from poking Catra’s other cheek, then her nose, her chin, her shoulder—

“Adora!” 

Catra grabs both of Adora’s hands and holds on tight. She gives Adora a firm glare and Adora simply beams, squeezing their hands together tightly. When was the last time they held hands? Adora doesn’t count the time from when they went dancing, maybe it was when they were kids?

“You are crazy,” Catra says with a shake of her head. She’s looking oddly flushed and glowing in the dim light from the lamp, but Adora still thinks she looks pretty. 

“I’m not! Don’t you remember the dance, too?”

“That’s—” Catra takes a deep breath. “That’s not the point. You’re drunk, and you aren’t thinking straight.”

Adora pouts. She sits up awkwardly, trying to look into Catra’s eyes. “B-But I _ can’t _think straight. Yunno what I mean?”

She winks clumsily and bursts into a fit of laughter at the shocked look on Catra’s face. She laughs so hard that Catra has to wack her over the head with a pillow to get her to calm down. 

Catra growls, “You—are—impossible! This is the last time I’m letting you drink!”

“Heyyy, Catra, that’s mean. You shouldn’t say stuff like that to your best friend!”

“I can and I will, especially when she’s acting like an idiot.”

“But I’m _ your _ idiot,” Adora says boldly and leans into Catra’s space. Catra goes cross-eyes in an attempt to keep her in view and for a second Adora thinks she hears Catra’s breath catch. 

Catra’s gaze flickers down for the barest second. Something flutters in Adora’s chest and excitement makes her heart race. 

“Don’t you remember the party too, Catra?” she asks again in a hushed whisper. She wants to lean in, to do something...but what is it? What exactly does she want to do?

Catra bites her lip. “...ask me about it when you’re sober,” she says after a long pause. “Maybe then I’ll tell you.”

* * *

The rest of break passes in a blur of sleepovers and take outs and bad movies, but Catra remembers the night Adora got drunk like the memory is an iron pressed to her skin. 

She just can’t stop thinking about it. _ Why _ had Adora brought up the night they kissed? Did she mean it, when she said she remembered it? She was tipsy out of her mind, but most of her and Catra’s interactions over the past three years tended to be like that...

Still, Adora couldn’t have been lying about Catra’s marks. She would have remembered seeing those the next morning with a sober mind. And if she cared enough to mention those while she was drunk...maybe she felt some of the same bizarre excitement that Catra did whenever they were together? 

Because that strange lurch of Catra’s heart whenever she sees or hears from Adora is very quickly taking over her life. They’re living together until break is over, but Adora is the first thing Catra thinks of when she opens her eyes in the morning. Sometimes she catches herself staring at her friend as Adora ramble on and on—and the weirdest part? She doesn’t want to look away. 

It’s even harder when they’re physically close. Catra is hyper-aware of Adora’s scent, how warm her skin feels pressed against her own, the softness of her fingers when they brush reaching for the tv remote. She has to force herself to keep some sort of distance between them. 

But it’s so, so, so hard—she wants to spend all her time with Adora lately, and the urge to do that is only getting worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/2/2019
> 
> Sooooo.........She-Ra season four this week. How we all feeling? Good? Bad? Terrified?
> 
> Yeah. Me too haha.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	19. Early Spring, Senior Year

“What do you _ mean, _you don’t know if it was real?” Glimmer asks shrilly and Adora winces. 

“I mean just that—I don’t know!” she whispers back. The line moves up slightly and the trio inch forward. “I was kind of drunk? Um.”

There’s a long sigh behind them. “Adora,” Bow starts, sounding like he’s in pain. “You’ve got to stop doing important stuff while you’ve been drinking!”

Adora winces. She didn’t _ mean _ to ask Catra about the dance party while tipsy, it just sort of happened! Drinking made her brave and giggly and really dumb, and that night during break was no exception. 

“Okay, so, you messed up,” Glimmer starts, rounding the corner and looking back at Adora with stern violet eyes. “But there’s a simple fix!”

Adora brightened. “Really?”

“Yes, really. You just have to ask Catra what happened.”

Horror causes Adora’s heart to plummet to the floor._ “What?” _

“Yeah, that’s a great idea!” Bow says. “Just ask Catra. She wasn’t as wasted as you, right?”

Adora’s stomach rolls. “N-No…”

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Oh, c’mon, Adora! You two made up, didn’t you? You don’t have to be afraid of Catra anymore—oh, it’s my turn!”

She rushes off towards the front desk and speaks excitedly to the bookstore employee. Adora folds her arms as she waits for her turn and taps one foot restlessly. She isn’t nervous about ordering her graduation cap and gown—no, it’s _ Catra _ she’s worried about. Just thinking about her lately leaves Adora a bundle of excited but anxious nerves. She feels like she’s missing something really obvious but important at the same time. 

“Don’t worry.” Bow lays a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You got this. Catra cares more about you than anyone, anyway. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

* * *

“Heyyyyy, uh, Catra?”

“What?” Catra grunts out. She’s got three different textbooks spread out and a hand fisted in her hair. The coursework here at Bright Moon is ten times worse than what she dealt with at Horde Community, and she can’t help but feel a begrudging flicker of respect for Bow and Glimmer. 

Adora, being the insanely perfect person she is, somehow only studies the bare minimum and still manages to pass everything with flying colors. Catra would be annoyed by it if she hadn’t been friends with Adora in high school and known this would happen—Adora thrives in every situation she is placed in. Grades, friends, actually getting eight hours of sleep...Adora checks off every box, and a college setting hadn’t changed that. 

“Can I ask you something…?”

Catra frowns and lets go of her hair. She glances over at Adora, because that tone—the awkward hesitance, the open-ended suggestion—is not the Adora she knows. And sure enough, Adora is fidgeting in her seat across the table with a nervous smile and pinking cheeks. 

Catra tries to force herself not to stare. Really, she does. But it’s so much more difficult to distract herself from everything that Adora is without Bow and Glimmer around. _ Why _ did they have to skip out on today’s study session? 

“What is it?” Catra asks when Adora doesn’t continue. 

Adora licks her lips and Catra’s heart twists. “I, uh, wanted to ask you about break.”

Catra frowns. “What about it?” She’s totally given up on her textbooks now, trying to remember if she’s left anything in the apartment. But wouldn’t Adora have just told her that already? Why is she only bringing this up now—?

“About the, uh, night I got drunk?” Adora fidgets some more. “I remember talking about some stuff…”

Catra forces herself to breathe. _ Act cool, Catra. _ It doesn’t even sound like Adora knows what she’s asking. There’s no way she would remember mentioning the party. 

“...specifically about that party we went to freshman year?”

_ Shit. _

Catra looks back down at her textbook in an attempt to seem busy. “Yeah? Well, you were rambling on about it for a while.”

She hears a loud groan and a _ thunk! _ as Adora drops her head onto the table. “I knew it! God, why am I so stupid when drunk?”

Catra can’t help but snicker then, even though her heart is still racing. “You’re assuming you’re not stupid, normally.”

“Hey!”

Catra laughs at the affronted look on Adora’s face. It’s way too easy to tease her friend. Adora practically left herself open with that. 

“I’m actually surprised you remember the party,” Catra says casually. She twirls her pen around her fingers, trying to expend some of her nervous energy. “I mean, you had a good amount to drink that night, too. Not as much as over break, but still a respectable amount.”

Adora glowers at her. “Don’t patronize me, Catra. I just...I don’t remember everything. I get little blurs, little—little flashes of feelings. But that’s it. I didn’t know…”

Her voice trails off and Catra watches, confused and surprised, as Adora blushes. 

“You didn’t know, what?” she parrots. 

Adora looks away. “I didn’t know that we, uh, made out. Not until Glimmer told me the next morning, anyway.”

Heat rushes to Catra’s cheeks. She struggles to come up with a response to that, because this is _ not _ what she was expecting to discuss when she came to the library today. When she says nothing, Adora peaks at her and bites her bottom lip. Catra inwardly groans. Did she _ have _ to do that?

Catra looks away, too. “Well, like I said, you were drinking. It makes sense you don’t remember.”

“That’s not my point,” Adora says with a shake of her head. “The point is—_you _ remember.”

Catra’s face is on actual, literal fire right now. “Yeah, so?”

_ “So—” _Adora sucks in a deep breath, “—I wanted to ask you if you regretted it or, or anything.”

Catra stares. Her mind goes blank and her heart jumps up to her throat. Memories come rushing back to her, unwelcome and overwhelming: Adora’s hazy blue eyes, the fevered heat of their mouths, the intense urge to be closer, get closer, to sink into Adora’s skin and never leave—

“Catra?” Adora asks hesitantly. Catra lets out a shaking breath and tries to pull herself together. 

She can’t lie to Adora. She just can’t. Not after their whole ‘breaking down barriers’ thing they did over break. Catra doesn’t want to lose her to another round miscommunication and she _ won’t. _

“I...I don’t regret it,” Catra says quietly. Her stomach turns itself inside out at her confession, but it’s the truth. She can’t regret that night. How could she, when Adora felt and tasted so incredibly perfect? 

Adora’s face goes darker. “Oh.”

Catra’s nerves skyrocket. “Is that a problem?”

“Wha—no! No, why would that ever be a problem?”

“You wouldn’t ask about it if it wasn’t a problem!”

“Well, it’s not, so calm down! Jeez!” Adora rolls her eyes. “I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”

Catra’s heart stops. “On the same page?”

“Y-Yeah. You don’t regret it, even though you remember. And...I don’t regret it, either. Even though I don’t remember.”

“You—You don’t?”

Adora shakes her head and Catra’s heart soars. Adora isn’t mad or disgusted that they kissed. Maybe she even liked it, though Catra doubts she liked it half as much as she—

_ BANG! _

The door flies open and Catra shrieks. 

“—okay, so, I know we’re late, but we bought you guys chocolate! Oh.” Bow stops short. He looks back and forth between Adora, who had fallen on the floor in her shock, and Catra, who glares at him with a look that could kill. 

“...sorry, did we scare you?” Glimmer poked her head around Bow with a wince and Catra could scream. Of course they had to come in at the worst possible time!

Adora picks herself off the floor with a forced laugh. “Nah, of course not! We were just, um, talking.” The redness in her face is back again. “Anyway! What did you buy from the store?”

The rest of the night is spent eating Bow and Glimmer’s discount Valentine’s Day chocolate, and Catra tries her best to focus on her studies and _ not _ on how Adora’s questions had just rocked her world. 

* * *

The strange energy from winter break is worse now. 

Adora thought talking it out with Catra—being vulnerable, discussing the elephant in the room that was their falling out—would have made her nervousness disperse. Her and Catra are on good terms again. They spend all their time together, text constantly. So why is it that Adora still feels this buzzing energy around her friend?

“We even talked about the party!” Adora groans. “Why do I still get nervous around her?”

Bow and Glimmer share a look. Glimmer scoots her chair closer and asks tentatively, “Well, what kind of nervous is it?”

“I don’t know! It’s like…” she frowns as she tries to pin down the feeling. “Like anticipation, sort of? But it never goes away! And whenever we say goodbye I just want to see her again even though I just saw her! _ Ugh!” _

She collapses onto the dinning hall table. Her head aches and she’s not hungry enough to finish her meal. She just feels so confused lately, and it’s driving her crazy!

Bow says, “Adora...you and Catra were never, you know. A thing. Right?”

Adora glowers are the table top. “No. Why? I thought I told you guys that a while ago.”

“Well...do you think maybe you’re starting to see her as someone you _ could _ have a possible thing with?”

Adora’s head snaps up and she stares at her friend. Bow adds, “You were pretty jealous with Scorpia! And she was acting all upset when she thought you were dating Glimmer for a while, too.”

“Jealous?” Adora repeats blankly. 

“Yeah, jealous. You know—you don’t like the idea of them spending time together, or being romantic. You get all upset and hurt, thinking about how it would be with you and Catra instead?”

Adora frowns. She thinks of Scorpia, who had been older than them and beautiful and incredibly strong. She things of Scorpia and Catra being _ together _, about them kissing and holding hands. An ugly emotion rises inside her and she has to struggle to keep a straight expression. 

But it’s not enough, apparently, because Bow lets out a loud whoop and points at her face. “See, you are jealous!”

Adora feels herself color. She can’t exactly deny the emotions that are clear for her friends to see. “Okay, maybe I am!” she says shrilly. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

Her friends groan in unison. Glimmer says, _ “Adora, _only you could be this dense!”

“It means you like Catra!” Bow asss. “Romantically!”

...romantically? As in, crushing? As in girlfriends and going out on dates and holding hands and kissing—?

Adora shakes her head to get rid of her intrusive thoughts. “No, no way. There has to be some kind of mistake.”

Glimmer gabs Adora’s shoulders and shakes her a little. “C’monnnnn, Adora! Why are you denying it? Don’t act like it’s a bad thing—you guys are best friends. It makes sense you’d want, y’know, _ more.” _

Adora protests weakly, _ “You _ guys are my best friends!”

But Bow shakes his head, smiling. “That’s different. She’s your _ first_, best friend.”

Adora struggles to come up with a reply. Her friends watch her with knowing little smirks, like they’ve known how Adora’s felt for a long time and are thrilled to finally seeing her figure it out herself. 

But what _ did _ she figure out? Right now she’s just confused. There’s a storm of different emotions waging inside her—fear for a change in her relationship with Catra again, a yearning for something more, a wave of affection for the person she’s known since she was a child...And that strange surge of excitement at the thought of seeing Catra again. Butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Hope for something new. 

Are all these feelings love? Adora’s not sure, she’s never been in love or even in a relationship. But she’s never felt like this before, either. Catra always made her feel the most extreme emotions and this time is no different. 

Adora’s cheeks heat. That has to be it. She likes Catra. Oh god, _ she likes Catra. _

“Uh, Adora? Hey, Adora, don’t freak out!”

“How can I not freak out?!” Adora cries. Her heart is beating so fast that she feels winded. “I like Catra, how am I supposed to face her tonight for our study session?!”

“Just like you always do! Nothing’s changed.”

“Yes, it has! What if she doesn’t like me back?”

Bow says soothingly, “That’s not something you need to worry about—”

“Yes, it is! It very much is something I need to worry about!”

“Adoraaaa, please.” Glimmer swings an arm over Adora’s shoulder, despite the awkward angle from their height difference. “Let me handle this. I’ll do a little asking around and it’ll all be fine. Trust me.”

* * *

“Do you like Adora?”

Catra stops short. The kids behind her make startled and annoyed sounds of exclamation, but she pays them no mind. She turns around, the snow crunching under her feet, and sees Glimmer standing a few steps away. The Political Science major is covered from head to toe in layers—muffs on her ears, mittens on her hands, boots on her feet. She packed smartly for Bright Moon’s winter, unlike Catra who had only thought to bring a few extra hoodies. 

But that is not the point. 

Catra scowls, ignoring the rush of heat to her cheeks. “Excuse me, Sparkles?”

“You heard me!” Glimmer stomps over to Catra, already glaring at her. “I want to know if you like Adora!”

Catra rolls her eyes and starts off towards her class again. Glimmer yells behind her, but Catra doesn’t bother to slow down. If Glimmer cares so much, she’ll keep up. 

Catra says loudly, “Of course I like Adora. We’re childhood friends.”

“That’s not—” Glimmer pants as she struggles to keep up with Catra’s purposefully long slide, “—what I’m asking you! And you know it!”

“Sorry to break it to you, but I really don’t!” 

“Catra! Stop—walking—so—fast—_ahhh.” _

Catra smirks but finally slows down a bit. Glimmer catches up to her, red faced and breathing heavy. 

“You were saying something?” Catra says and Glimmer glares. 

“I want to know,” she growls. “How you feel about Adora.”

Catra has to fight to keep the smug look on her face. Why is Glimmer being so insistent about this? Had something happened?

“And I just told you how I feel about her,” Catra retorts. There are less and less students making their way through the snow-covered paths around them, meaning class is starting soon. “Are we done? I have to go to biology, you know. And I’m not exactly standing out here in the snow freezing my ass off for shits and giggles.”

Glimmer ignores her attempts at escape. “You’re avoiding my question.”

_ “No, _I very clearly just gave you an answer. I don’t know what you were expecting, but don’t get in a hissy just because you don’t like—”

“I want to know if you have a crush on Adora!” Glimmer finally bursts out. “Okay?! That’s all I want to know!”

Silence. In the distance, a door slams shut. It echoes across the now quiet grounds and rings in Catra’s ears. Glimmer is giving her a look that could kill and if Catra were anyone else, she might be intimidated. 

But she’s not. She’s Catra, and the only thing she cares about is telling Glimmer an answer that won’t give away her somewhat intense feelings for her best friend. 

But the longer she struggles, the more she seems to confirm Glimmer’s suspicion. The pink-haired girl leans back, folding her arms and grinning. “You do, don’t you? I knew it!”

Heat rushes to Catra’s cheeks. “Why do you care?” she snaps defensively. She knows she’s playing right into Glimmer’s hands but she can’t help but act stupid when it comes to Adora. “I never said anything, anyway! Are you trying to prove something or—or—”

Catra’s voice trails off. Because why would Glimmer care so much? Why is she suddenly harassing Catra for an answer? No one did that. Not unless…

“Catra?” Glimmer asks, her voice sounding far away. “What’s wrong? You just got really pale—”

_ “You _ want to date Adora,” Catra says. Her voice is flat and emotionless. It doesn’t even sound like her. “Don’t you?”

It’s Glimmer’s turn to go pale. _ “What? _ No! That’s not what this is about—”

“You don’t need to ask my permission, you know. We never even dated.”

It’s a blatant, obvious lie. Every word out of Catra’s mouth tastes sour on her lips, and she’s cold all over in a way that has nothing to do with the freshly falling snow. 

She doesn’t know what she would do if Adora and Glimmer started dating. She could hardly stand it back when she only _ thought _ they were dating and there were hundreds of miles between them. How would she cope with Glimmer hanging all over Adora, her best friend smiling softly down at the other girl and her blue eyes warm with affection? The image makes Catra’s stomach roll, and a wave of pointless frustration and anger rolls over her. 

She should leave. Now, before Glimmer saw the effect of her words. Catra doesn’t want to lose Adora again, even if it means she can only have her as a friend—

“Catra, hey!” Glimmer’s alarmed shout pulls her out of her shock. Gloved hands grab her shoulders and shake her. “I’m not dating Adora! I don’t _ want _ to date, Adora. Okay? So stop getting dumb ideas in your head and _ listen _to me!”

Catra blinks as Glimmer breathes heavy. The other girl’s eyes are narrowed in anger and her fingers dig painfully into Catra’s shoulders. She looks determined to shake the truth into Catra if she doesn’t believe her. 

“But,” Catra starts. “You said—”

“I didn’t say anything!” Glimmer cuts her off sharply. “All I asked was if _ you _ liked Adora. That’s it! You were the one to go crazy.” She shakes her head and lets go of Catra. “Did it ever occur to you that I might be asking for someone else?”

...for someone else? What does that mean?”

“You’re just as oblivious as Adora, honestly.” Glimmer puts her hands on her hips. “Seriously, pull yourself together! Me and Adora _ never _dated. Not once. We never could, she never shut up about you.”

Butterflies fluttered in Catra’s chest. Had Adora really talked about her that much? It might not have been all good things though, considering the way their relationship had been the past few years. 

“You really mean that?” Catra asks quietly. “You don’t want to date her?”

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “No! Adora is...she’s amazing, okay? She’s smart and brave and ridiculous and a great, great friend. I love her. Really. Just not like that.”

She pauses. “I didn’t mean to freak you out, by the way. I just came here to say...if you’re at all interested in asking our mutual She Ra out...I think you’d have a pretty high success rate.”

The air vanished from Catra’s lungs. Her heart is beating too fast and she can hardly think. 

“Glimmer, I—I—”

“I give you my blessing, by the way. But if you mess her up—” Glimmer points a threatening finger in her face, “—then I’ll make sure to mess _ you _ up. Got it?”

Catra finally smiles, then. Her respect for Glimmer grows as she says, “Got it, Sparkles.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/6/2019
> 
> I was going to wait to post this over the weekend, buuuuuuuuut I just finished watching season 4 and got totally overwhelmed by feels lol
> 
> My analysis on season 4 is that it was just as good as season 3, but for different reasons. Season 4 had a ton of awesome character development with secondary characters and even with a lot of the main characters you could see their original opinions/relationships changing and shifting. And all of the filler episodes were fantastic and totally engaging! Season 3 had a lot more catradora interaction which is a HUGE plus and I think the two-parter finale was more shocking than season 4's.
> 
> Overall though, I loved it. I'm going to be so devastated when the show is over T^T
> 
> ANYWAY hope you enjoyed reading this! Only two more chapters to goooooo~
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	20. Late Spring, Senior Year

Adora has no idea what Glimmer ‘finds out’ from Catra. When she asks her about it later, all she gets is a smug smile for her troubles and a “You’ll just have to wait and see, Adora. Just wait and see~”. 

Which isn’t comforting. At all. 

But she continues on with her regular school routine and nothing changes. The best friend squad (plus Catra) study for their tests and stay up till five in the morning playing video games and complain about the snow—Catra turns out to hate the stuff, despite her longingly dreaming of it as a child. Catra still comes by the apartment every day, and they get dinner together every night. 

But then something changes. 

Catra and Adora are sitting on the couch after dinner like usual, watching ‘Too Cute’ on the TV. Glimmer’s mom is up for the weekend, so she and Bow had left earlier that evening to get dinner with her. It’s a quiet, peaceful night, and Adora doesn’t mind it in the least.

It’s nice to have some one on one time with the girl she also happens to like. 

Catra’s phone goes off like usual at midnight. The buzzing sound fills the air, loud and annoying and awful. Adora winces, lifting her head off Catra’s shoulder and glaring at the offending item on the coffee table. 

“...do you really have to go?” she asks and Catra laughs. 

“Don’t want me to leave, huh?” she leans forward to grab her phone and turns off the alarm. Her face is momentarily illuminated by the phone screen, her blue-golden eyes almost glowing as she squints.

A longing rises within Adora. She really, _ really _doesn’t want Catra to go. 

“You could stay the night?” Adora suggests and Catra gives her a crooked grin. 

“And borrow your clothes, again? I’ve already stayed here three nights in a row!”

“I don’t mind,” Adora blurts out and instantly feels her cheeks color. “Um. Bow and Glimmer don’t care, either. And it would suck to walk back to campus now—it’s still pretty cold outside!”

“Hmm...you make a compelling case.” Catra’s mismatched eyes gleam in the low light and it makes Adora’s heart stutter. “I do hate the cold.”

“Exactly!” Adora wraps her arms around Catra’s elbow and holds on tight. “So, just stay…”

She lets her voice trails off. She doesn’t finish the sentence the way she would like _ (so just stay with me). _But the soft look Catra gives her makes her wonder if her friend had heard her anyway. 

Catra shakes her head. “I can’t say no to you...Okay, I’ll stay. I think I’m getting used to sleeping on your couch, anyway.”

“You don’t have to sleep there, if you don’t want.”

Catra blinks. “What do you mean?”

“It means, you could—uh—” 

Adora can barely get the words out, her heart is racing so fast. But she forces herself to, because she’s not going to be held back by her fear, and the worst thing that could happen would be Catra saying no—which really shouldn’t be as bad as it feels it is—

“Y-You should, uh...you could always share my bed. I-If you want.”

Catra’s eyes go wide. She doesn’t look like she’s breathing, and Adora feels like she’s about to pass out. 

There’s a long pause. And then—

“Sure,” Catra says, her voice shaking only a little, and Adora breathes again. 

* * *

Catra should have known what she was getting into when she said yes to sleeping with Adora. 

She stares at Adora’s back in the darkness, hardly daring to breathe. Her best friend looks beautiful even in the dim glow of the nightlight. The desire to touch and hold Adora is nearly overwhelming now, has been for weeks. It would be so easy just to extend a leg, to snuggle closer, or breathe in her scent. Would Adora even notice—?

“Catra?” comes a quiet voice and Catra freezes. “Are you awake?”

“...yes,” Catra admits. 

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.” How can she, when her crush is laying next to her on the same bed?

Adora rolls over. Her hair is a mess of blonde knots, her blue eyes tired but wide and awake. She looks perfect. Perfect enough for Catra to kiss her. 

“What are you thinking about?” Adora whispers and Catra bites her lip. 

“Just...stuff,” she says vaguely. Glimmer’s words come back to her—_I’m sure you would be pretty successful at asking her out_—and her hands clench into fists. 

Glimmer sounded so sure, back then. But how can _ Catra _ be sure? There’s only one way to find the answer, and Catra is terrified to try. 

Adora smiles and snuggles down into the covers. “It must be a lot of stuff. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so quiet.”

Something catches the dim light and Catra focuses on it. She’s reaching out before she’s fully aware of it, her fingers gently brushing the cool metal of Adora’s bracelet. 

She frowns. “You wear this thing to bed?” she asks, purposefully avoiding Adora’s question. “Do you _ ever _ take it off?”

Her friend shrugs awkwardly, one shoulder pressed into the mattress. “Not really. I mean, I do sometimes. Like for working out or taking a shower. I don’t want t to get damaged! But the rest of the time…”

“But the rest of the time you wear it,” Catra finishes and Adora nods. 

Knowing Adora likes her gift enough to wear it constantly causes warmth to blossom in Catra’s chest. She carefully runs her fingers over the gold and gems, as if trying to memorize the feel of it. She remembers when she bought this bracelet, how it had caught her eye while she and Adora had been walking around the Winter Festival. She’d specifically went back to buy it because it reminded her of that dumb worn out friendship bracelet Adora still wore at the time. This bracelet is a worthy update. 

Catra’s fingers accidentally brush the warm skin of Adora’s wrist. She stills, heart leaping into her throat, but she doesn’t pull away. 

And neither does Adora. 

Catra slowly lifts her gaze to her best friend’s face. Adora is watching her with those incredibly blue eyes. They’re piercing enough to see right through Catra, the most beautiful shade of blue she’s ever seen.

Adora doesn’t say a word, and the tension between them suddenly swells. It buzzes in the air like a live, palpable thing. Catra swallows and forces herself to breathe evenly. She dares to drag her fingers across Adora’s skin, feeling the slight thrum of Adora’s pulse under her skin. From there she follows the curve up to Adora’s palm and traces the creases there. Adora’s hands are the same size as hers, not too big and not too small. Catra remembers when they were younger thinking how perfectly they fit together. 

...what would Adora do now, if Catra took her hand? 

“Catra,” Adora whispers and Catra’s shoulders jump up to her ears. “It’s okay.”

Catra glances up at her again. Adora is _ still _ watching her. It makes Catra’s skin tingle. 

She asks quietly, almost not daring to breathe, “Is what okay?”

Adora slowly slides her hand down. She slots her fingers between Catra’s easily, as if they were always meant to be together._ “This,” _she says and squeezes Catra’s hand. “This is okay.”

Catra’s tongue feels heavy in her mouth. “Of c-course it is,” she says, trying to play it casual because what if Adora didn’t feel the same way she did? “We used to hold hands all the time as kids.”

That makes Adora frown for some reason. “Is that what you want?” she asks in a hushed tone. “To be like when we were kids?”

_ This is it, _ Catra realizes. This is the moment. This is where everything could change, for worse or for better. And Adora is letting _ her _ make that choice. 

Why is Adora letting her make this choice?! It’s terrifying, putting voice to her secret hopes and dreams. What if she blurts out everything, lays herself bare and vulnerable, only for Adora to stop all over her again?

No. No, no, _ no! _ Adora _ didn’t _ do that after high school, she never wanted to do that! She would never hurt Catra on purpose, and Catra knows that now. She trusts Adora enough to be friends again...so why is it so hard to trust her with everything else?

Catra lets out a shaking breath and squeezes Adora’s hand hard enough to leave a bruise. She hopes Adora doesn’t feel the way she’s physically trembling. When she speaks, it’s quiet enough to be a breath of a whisper—

“I want to be friends again. I never _ not _ want to be friends with you. You know that. But, I…” she steels herself, forces the words out despite the way her voice quakes like it’s something breakable, “...that’s not the _ only _thing I want.”

She hears Adora’s breathing hitch. She risks taking a peak and sees Adora’s face flushed a deep shade of red. Her eyes are locked on Catra, unblinking. Entranced. Catra can’t tell if that’s a good or bad reaction. She doesn’t even know what kind of response she was looking for, exactly.

“Adora?” she whispers. Her heart is racing and her stomach is a mess of knots. She feels like she’s going to pass out if Adora doesn’t say something soon, even if it is rejection and Glimmer is wrong, and—

Adora leans forward and then soft lips are pressed against Catra’s.

* * *

Kissing Catra is everything Adora’s ever dreamed of—and everything she can’t remember from their first kiss in freshman year. 

Catra’s lips are warm and soft. Her friend kisses her back hard enough for Adora to know she’s wanted, hard enough to leave a bruise. Sharp nails dig into Adora’s skin while Catra’s nose squishes against her cheek but Adora couldn’t be happier. 

Because this can only mean one thing: that Catra likes her back. _ Catra likes her back, _and Adora could almost burst from being this happy. So she throws her arms around Catra’s shoulders and kisses her until the room spins. 

“I’m—I’m g-guessing this means you like me?” Adora says breathlessly when they finally pull away. 

Catra rolls her eyes. Her cheeks are flushed dark enough for Adora to see in the dark. “Adora...shut up.”

Adora smirks. _ “Make me.” _

Catra’s eyes flash. She surges forward to roughly claim Adora’s lips for her own, and Adora hums into her mouth. She can’t keep herself from smiling, even though it makes the kiss awkward. She can’t contain this joyous swooping feeling in her chest, a feeling she finally realizes has been associated with Catra for as long as she can remember. 

She just didn’t realize what it meant until now. 

“I like you too, you know,” she murmurs against Catra’s lips. She runs her fingers through Catra’s hair, grinning when Catra shudders against her. 

Catra’s voice is hoarse when she whispers, “I k-kinda figured that out on my own, thanks.”

“Oh, really? Why was I the one that had to kiss you first, then?”

There’s a snort and Adora lets out a quiet hiss as Catra’s nails dig into her skin. “Hate to break it to you, _ princess, _but you didn’t kiss me first. I kissed you.”

“Back at the party? But that was ages ago!”

“So? It still counts!”

“Does not!”

“Does too!”

“Does _ not—!” _

Adora lets out a muffled sound of surprise ad Catra kisses her again. She laughs and kisses her back. She doesn’t care much about the technicalities. Not really. All she cares about right now is kissing Catra until she forgets everything, she wants to lose herself in this feeling of being loved by the person she loves in kind. 

“You’re so annoying,” Catra growls. Adora can feel her smiling, and her cheeks hurt from beaming.

“Yeah, but you like me anyway.”

“Yeah, well…” Catra leans in close once more and Adora’s heart starts to race. “...maybe I do.”

* * *

Glimmer screams when she finds out. 

_ “I knew it!” _ She shrieks and nearly everyone in the coffee store turns around to stare at them. “Oh—Bow! Didn’t I say it? Didn’t I say they liked each other?!”

“Y-Yes!” Bow gasps. His glasses start slipping off his face as Glimmer shakes him. “Yes! I heard you, Glimmer!”

Catra raises an eyebrow. “Say it again, why don’t you? I don’t think some people in Alaska heard you,” she says sarcastically and Glimmer glowers at her. “Maybe if you scream some more they might.”

“Oh, shut up! Let me be happy about this.”

“I didn’t know you were so invested in our relationship.”

“Of course I am!” Glimmer looks offended at the idea. “Me and Adora have been friends for years. You don’t think we noticed the obvious stifling romantic tension between you two?”

Adora chokes on her hot chocolate and turns away to start hacking up a lung. Catra frowns and rubs her back. 

“We—” Adora gasps, glaring at Glimmer with watery blue eyes, “—we didn’t have stifling romantic tension!”

Glimmer just gives Adora a Look and Bow grimaces. “No offense, Adora, but...you aren’t as subtle as you think.”

Adora turns red and Catra can’t help but laugh. She’s been laughing so much more this year since she and Adora have grown close again. She’ll probably just laugh even more now that they’re...well..._ together. _

Catra’s chest swells. They’re together. Her and Adora. Adora and her. Adora belongs to her, wants to be with her. She’s so happy she could fly. 

(A part of her is guilty for never feeling like this around Scorpia. But she can’t force herself to feel a certain way, and she was probably a little in love with Adora this entire time. Scorpia never really stood a chance.)

“Are you two going to turn into one of those super pda couples?” Bow asks. 

“Wha—no!” Adora stammers. Her face is flushed red. It’s a nice color on her, Catra thinks. 

“What, you don’t want to kiss me in public?” Catra’s teases and Adora sticks her tongue out at her. 

“It’s not like that! It’s just—

Catra swoops in and kisses her full on the mouth. She has just enough time to feel her stiffen in shock before she hears the disgusted noises of their friends behind her. 

_ “Eeeuuugh! _ Gross! Stop, stop, stop—”

“My eyes! My poor, innocent eyes!”

Catra smiles, her lips still pressed against Adora’s. She can feel the heat of Adora’s blush and taste the lingering sweetness of her hot chocolate. Even with Glimmer and Bow moaning and groaning in the background, Adora still doesn’t push Catra away. It makes Catra want to see just how far she can push her new girlfriend in public…

...but that’s for another time. 

So she pulls back and Adora sucks in a large breath of air. Her blue eyes are hazy, unfocused. It makes Catra grin. 

“What was it you were saying?” Catra asks sweetly, making a point of licking her lips. 

Adora is beat red. “...that I didn't want you to go overboard.”

“Hmmm. That doesn’t sound like me at all~”

Glimmer says flatly, “You two are gross.”

Adora looks at her with a pout. “I thought you were just saying how happy you were for us!”

“I am! Just not when you’re making a scene inappropriate for minors!”

“Oh c’mon,” Adora whines. “Even the freshmen are at least eighteen!”

Catra snickers and grabs Adora’s hand where it rests on the table. She weaves their fingers together and holds on tight. 

“We’ll try our best not to embarrass you both,” Catra says, smirking, and Glimmer narrows her eyes. 

“You better not.”

“By the way,” Bow interrupts just as Catra opens her mouth to reply. “Have you guys told your parents yet?”

Adora goes pale. 

* * *

It’s...confusing, at first. There’s a lot of stuff to figure out and Adora’s not sure where she and Catra land most days except she likes kissing Catra _ a lot. _

Catra likes kissing her too, though. So Adora figures they’re fine with that part of the relationship, at least.

They’re still friends. They’ll always be friends, had established that during winter break when they both cried their eyes out and hugged each other tight enough to bruise. But there’s so much _ more _ to their relationship now and they’re closer in ways Adora only ever fantasized before...

She brushes Catra’s fingers as they walk between classes and Catra grabs it and holds on like it’s a personal challenge. Catra leans on Adora’s shoulder like there isn’t any height difference between them and stares everyone down as if daring them to mention the obvious lack of personal space. Catra sleeps in Adora’s bed now and she’s got a drawer all to herself in her room. When Adora wakes up from the occasional nightmare about the car accident, Catra is there to comfort her. And when Adora wakes up with a flurry of marks scattered across her neck and shoulders...she knows who to turn to then, too.

She loves it. She loves _ Catra, _ though she’s not sure if they’ve been together long enough to really say something like that. She’s happier with Catra at her side than she can ever remember being. Every part of her life just feels so much better and brighter and wonderful, even boring stuff like schoolwork.

“I told you she liked you,” Glimmer teases her for the millionth time, violet eyes twinkling. Adora pushes her off the couch and her friend falls to their apartment floor with a yelp.

Bow and Glimmer are both overwhelmingly happy for her. It makes everything even better because all of Adora’s favorite people exist together like one big happy family and Adora doesn’t want it to ever end.

But it has to. Graduation is just around the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/15/2019
> 
> I should probably be uploading this chapter on a Monday or something when more pple would see it but.............oh well XD I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! I'm so happy catradora /finally/ got together and kissed--it only took four years lol
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! Only one more chapter left~~~
> 
> [[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)   
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


	21. Graduation, Senior Year

“What are you planning to do after we graduate?” Catra quietly asks Adora one night. She’s running her fingers through silky blonde hair again, and their legs are a tangled mess under the blankets. Adora is warm and soft in her arms and Catra is at peace.

She feels so much calmer since getting together with Adora. She feels like every part of their lives have been leading to this, to them being together. It feels _ right. _

Adora hums and Catra feels the vibrations through her chest. “I dunno. I hadn’t thought much about it.”

Catra snorts. She finds that extremely hard to believe. “You’re _ Adora. _You always have a plan.”

Adora shrugs and lifts her head off Catra’s torso to give her a cheeky smile. “Well, I’ve been a little distracted lately.”

Catra rolls her eyes despite the prickling warmth on their skin. “Oh my god, that is so ridiculously cheesy. Couldn’t think of a better pick up line?”

Adora grins. “I don’t need a better pick up line.”

“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because my cheesy pick up line worked just fine. You’re blushing, you know.”

Adora pokes Catra’s pink cheek and Catra swipes her hand away with a growl. “The only reason I’m blushing because my girlfriend is such an _ embarrassment. _Seriously, you gotta up your game if you want to keep my heart.”

Adora snickers and Catra can’t help the way the corners of her lips twitch up in kind. She’s been smiling a lot lately, too. It’s growing into an automatic reaction, to smile when Adora is smiling. 

“Really though,” she says once Adora stops giggling. “What _ are _ you planning to do? We haven’t talked about it at all, but graduation is this month…”

She lets her voice trails off. She doesn’t say how hard it is for her to have this conversation. She doesn’t mention how terrified she is of losing Adora (again) with this next phase of their life. She only just got Adora back. Does fate have to be so cruel to pry them apart once more?

Adora frowns. She rolls off Catra and onto the bed. Catra silently mourns the familiar feel of Adora’s body as her girlfriend sits up on the bed, her legs meeting her chest and her arms wrapping around her shins.

“Well,” Adora starts slowly. She’s staring off at the opposite end of the wall, blue eyes distant. “I’ve got to apply for jobs. I have a good list of where to start from Razz, and she thinks I won’t have a problem getting any interviews. And then after that, I’ll see.”

Catra frowns back. “Razz?”

“The counselor who got me to major in First Ones Language and Archaeology?” Adora shakes her head. “Her job is to specifically help out people in my school, you won’t know her.”

“Oh.”

Adora tilts her head curiously. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Catra asks defensively. 

“What do _ you _ want to do?”

Catra falls quiet. She knows what she wants, and that’s to follow Adora. But…

But there’s a lot left to learn. And she wasn’t in Bright Moon long enough to learn it all. 

“I...want to apply to masters,” Catra says carefully. “I want to become a politician, I think. But I need to take more classes to do that.”

Adora practically lights up. “Oh, Catra that’s perfect for you!”

Catra’s heart throbs. “Really?” 

“Yes! You were always talking about how you wanted to change the world when we were younger.” Adora places her hand over Catra’s, squeezing tightly. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, Catra. Really.”

_ You’re wonderful, _Catra thinks as she stares up helplessly at Adora. She could kiss her senseless right now, and Adora beams. 

She doesn’t feel like they’ve had enough time. It’s only been a few weeks since she and Adora got together, and she’s still kicking herself for not acting sooner. They could have had months, if not years, to be together like this. All the jealously and anger seems so stupid now. All that wasted time was gone, and Catra doesn’t want to be forced apart from Adora after graduation. She _ won’t _ lose Adora again. She can’t.

“I—I want to stay together, though,” Catra blurts out. 

Adora blinks. Then, to Catra’s surprise, she laughs. 

“Of course we’re staying together!” She gives Catra a brilliant grin and Catra’s heart flips onto its side. “Did you really think you were going to get rid of me that easily?”

There’s a strange swooping and feeling sensation in Catra’s chest. This time she doesn’t hold herself back from tackling Adora and kissing her over, and over, and over again. Her best friend laughs between kisses and Catra kisses her harder to shut her up. 

Adora is perfect. She’s wonderful and brilliant and impossible, and Catra heads over heels crazy for her. 

Maybe all that heartbreak and suffering from the past few years is worth it, after all. It brought them together in the end.

* * *

“Congratulations, Adora.”

“Thanks, Ms. Hope…”

Adora accepts the flowers from her mother-figure with a beam, allowing the taller woman to pull her close and plant a kiss on her cheek. Her lips are cool in sharp contrast to the warm sun that’s been beating down on them for the past few brutal hours. Graduation ceremonies aren’t exactly short, after all. 

Ms. Hope leans away and gives her a look that is almost a smile. “I am very proud of you. You have accomplished much during your years here.”

“Heh, yeah, well…” Adora’s chest swells with pride. “I tried my best. You were the one who recommended I apply to Bright Moon in the first place, though. So I owe you one.”

Ms. Hope looks generally pleased at that. She opens her mouth to reply—

“ADORAAAA!”

_ “Adora _, get your butt over here! We want to get a picture!”

“Oh, that’s Glimmer and Bow! Do you mind if I—?”

“Not at all,” Ms. Hope says fondly and Adora gives her one last smile before turning to fight through the crowd of graduates and their families, searching desperately for her friends.

Bow sees her first, being the tallest. He throws up a hand in an enthusiastic wave. “There she is!” he yells and pulls her into a tight hug. Adora squeezes him back hard enough to make him wheeze. 

“Congrats,” she says with a grin when they pull back. 

Bows eyes sparkle with humor. “Congrats to you, too—_ She Ra _. How’s it feel to be signaled out in front of the school for your great academic achievements?”

Adora groans. “Please don’t remind me! The only academic achievements I made at college were pulling three all nighters in a row back in sophomore year—”

“I honestly thought we would never see this day,” Glimmer sighs. Her hair is covered with a layer of sparkle and angled gracefully off to the side—probably her mother’s design—and her cap is covered in pink and purple cloud stickers. Adora remembers rushing off towards the supermarket late last week for last minute decorating supplies, and she feels a surge of fondness for her best friends. 

Adora hugs Glimmer. “Me, neither. I couldn’t have done it without you two.”

Bow joins in on the other side. “Same here, Adora. Best friend squad _ forever!” _

Glimmer sniffs from somewhere underneath their arms. “You guys! Don’t make me cry, my makeup is going to run—”

“Uhhhhh, hate to break this up, but do you want a picture or not?”

Adora leans back to see Mermista standing in front of her, hands on her hips. She’s wearing a pretty blue and turquoise dress, her blue-dyed hair styled in a fancy bun. Her expression is as grumpy as ever. 

“I missed you, too,” Adora says and embraces her. Mermista awkwardly pats her back, her posture as stiff as wood. “Thanks for coming all the way out here—”

“Yeah, yeah. You can thank me later, _ after _ we get to someplace with air conditioning.”

“Yes, it is very hot,” Perfuma pipes up. There’s a red tinge to the taller girl’s freckled face that has absolutely everything to do with the summer sun, and she’s fanning herself with her hand rapidly. “I don’t remember our ceremony being that long!”

“Yeah, well, it was,” Mermista drawls. “Trust me.”

Adora hands out her phone, grinning. “Can you take a picture of me and Glimmer and Bow?” she asks and Glimmer gasps. 

“Oh! I want a picture too, please!”

“Me three!”

Mermista grooooaaannnnss, but she accepts their phones all the same. The best friend squad hug each other, all three of them beaming brightly with Glimmer squished between the two taller members. Adora feels an intense rush of affection for her friends. She doesn’t know how she would have survived this year without them—or _ any _ year without them. They are definitely the best part about Bright Moon and she will love them for as long as she is alive. 

“How did it turn out?” Glimmer asks as she rushes forward to grab her phone. 

Mermista huffs. “How am I supposed to know, I’m a biologist not a photographer.”

“Hey, my eyes are closed in this one!”

“Well, I am _ not _ taking it again.”

“What? Why not! You’re the one who—”

“I didn’t do anything!”

Perfuma tries to push Glimmer and Mermista part with a weak protest, “Let's please not fight…it’s too hot right now...”

Adora starts laughing, her cheeks starting to ache from smiling so much. Just seeing all her friends together again fills her with joy. 

There’s only one person missing—

“Hey, Princess.”

Goosebumps appear across the back of Adora’s neck. She turns around to see Catra in all her graduation glory, hands on her hips and a smirk on her lips. Her gown is already pulled opened to reveal a fitting suit in Bright Moon colors, and her graduation cap is half hanging off her head.

Adora’s smile grows even wider. “Catra!” she says excitedly and throws her arms around her girlfriend. Catra stumbles back a step from the force of her hug, but she quickly steadies themselves to keep them from falling. 

“Hey, Adora,” Catra says with a grin. She looks radiant against the blue sky, and Adora cant help herself from planting a kiss on her cheek. It leaves a smudge of Glimmer’s borrowed lipstick on her freckled cheek, but Adora doesn’t think it looks that bad. Red is a nice color on Catra. 

“What was that for?” Catra asks, looking flustered. 

“For you existing?” Adora says and Catra snorts. 

“Cute,” she says before pinching Adora’s cheek. “Did you get pictures with everyone?”

“Yeah. Did you?”

“Mhm…” 

Catra looks over her shoulder. Adora follows her line of sight to see two women standing a little way off in the crowd. One has a shock of white hair piled on her head, the other has pigtailed purple locks. They’re chatting amiably together despite the heat and crowd, and Adora is not at all surprised to see Ms. Weaver missing. She was never the warmest of mothers to Catra. 

“Is that...Scorpia?” Adora asks, squinting through the sunlight. “And, uh, Entrapta?”

Glimmer suddenly reappears by Adora’s side. “Entrapta?” she repeats in a demanding tone. “As in, the girl who fixed my laptop sophomore year?”

“That would be her,” Catra confirms and Glimmer’s chest puffs out. 

“I have to thank her! She saved my life that semester!”

“I think you’re being a little over dramatic with that statement!” Bow yells from a few feet away and Glimmer waves her hand at him. 

“Catra, will you introduce us?” Glimmer asks, grabbing onto the sleeve of Catra’s suit. She’s got that look in her violet eyes that says she won’t take no for an answer. 

Catra herself looks a little stunned at Glimmer’s insistence. “Uh. Yeah, sure. I just want a picture with—”

But Glimmer is already off and running before Catra can finish. “I’ll go ahead! Catch up when you’re ready!” 

She pushes through the crowd towards Catra’s friends and Bow yelps, “H-Hey! Glimmer, wait up—”

Bow rushes past Adora and Catra a second later. They watch their friends vanish into the sea of indigo graduation gowns, tracking their progress until Glimmer finally manages to reach the purple-haired girl that is Entrapta. 

“...wanna bet they become best friends?” Adora suggests and Catra rolls her eyes. 

“That’s a _ given _ , Adora. Glimmer and Bow make friends with everyone they meet. Like _ you, _for example.”

“Hey!” Adora laughs. “They became friends with you too, you know!”

“Yeah, well…” Catra’s smile slowly drops until it becomes a frown. “I’m still a little surprised at that myself.”

Adora doesn’t like the way Catra says that—like she doesn’t believe she’s worthy of good friends, like Bow and Glimmer shouldn’t like her after all when they had more than enough time this past year to decide that for themselves. 

“Well, _ I’m _not surprised.” Adora winds her arms around Catra’s shoulders and gives her a stern, but soft look. “You’re a good person, Catra. There’s no reason they wouldn’t like you.”

Catra turns red. “Y-You’re just saying that.”

“Am not!”

“You’re such a liar, acting like you’re not biased.”

“I think my girlfriend is a good person, ohhh noooo!” Adora rolls her eyes. “Sue me!”

The strange tension in Catra’s face breaks at that. She throws her head back and laughs—really, truly laughs—and kisses Adora firmly on the mouth. Adora hums happily against Catra’s lips and tightens her arms around Catra’s neck. When they part they’re both sporting pink cheeks and dazed grins. 

“Picture?” Catra asks and holds up her phone. “To solidify this moment in time?”

Adora smiles. “What, like that graduation picture we did for high school?”

“Yep. _ Exactly _ like that.”

Adora eyes Catra suspiciously. “You’re not going to break up with me and destroy my bracelet after this, right?”

Catra sputters. “Wha—no—Adora! You _ know _ I wouldn’t!”

Adora laughs. “I’m just teasing! No need to look so offended~”

Catra pinches her side in retaliation and Adora yelps. Still, Catra keeps a firm hold around Adora’s waist, and her smile into the camera is wonderfully bright and happy. Adora wants to make Catra this happy every minute of every day, just as long as Catra continues to look at her like that. 

Catra snaps the picture and Adora pulls her hand closer to take a look. It really is crazy how similar this picture looks to their high school graduation picture. They just look a little older. And, of course, Adora is the only one wearing a bracelet, here. 

“Huh,” she muses and Catra looks at her. 

“What?”

“It’s just...now that I’m thinking about it, it’s kind of weird that I’m the only one with a bracelet in this picture. I mean, we both were still wearing our childhood ones at high school graduation.”

Catra smirks. “You know what that means.”

“What?”

“It means,” she says in a sing-song voice, unlocking her phone and typing in Adora’s name in her texting app to send her the picture. “That you’ll just have to give me a new one.”

Adora hums thoughtfully. “Okay. Under one condition: don’t break this one.”

Catra rolls her mismatched eyes and re-locks her phone. “I _ promise, _Adora. No more break ups, no more destroyed possessions...we’re staying together, and so are our bracelets.”

Adora grins. “Good.” 

And then Adora leans forward and kisses Catra on the mouth. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/24/2019
> 
> I can't believe this fic is overrrr T^T I wrote this whole thing in about a month over the summer, shortly after the third season of she-ra came out. Now the fourth season is out, Thanksgiving is next week, and it's already almost 2020!!!
> 
> But I really enjoyed writing this fic. It means a lot to me so see familiar usernames leaving comments on it, because it means many of you enjoyed this story enough to follow it all the way to the end with me! For all of those who found this fic and kept up with my updates and bookmarked/kudo'd/commented on Wildfire.........thank you <3 it means more than you know! Hope you enjoyed this ending to this very very long fic haha~
> 
> You can always find me at my tumblr or twitter if you'd like to follow me there! Links are below:  
[[my tumblr]](https://decembercamiecherries.tumblr.com/)  
[{my twitter}](https://twitter.com/decembercamie)


End file.
